RWBY and the Deathberry
by thewhitearrow
Summary: Remnant is a world besieged by Grimm. What happens when an outsider gets involved in the most recent Beacon Initiation test? A Complete Rewrite is in progress, on Chapter 4 of the rewrite. My goal is to have the rewrite completed and Chapter 8 posted by December 21st. Sorry and thank you for your patience, I promise it will be worth it!
1. Chapter 1: The Initiation Test

Revised as of 11/22/14

I don't own Bleach or RWBY.

Chapter 1: The Initiation Test

The sounds of gunfire and explosions notified the many occupants of the Emerald Forest that today marked the annual initiation test for the new arrivals at Beacon Academy. The sounds issued a warning to all denizens of the woods that a battle was taking place between Man and Grimm. The sounds also informed another soul that something, other than the monsters, was on the move near him and his temporary home.

A steeple like structure standing at the end of a long pillar lined walkway stood in the thick fog that seemed to rise from the chasm beneath it. The fog rose from the chasm day and night giving the ruins a mysterious presence, a place long forgotten by the world around it. Within the steeple a figure moved through the structure pausing in an archway to ascertain the direction of the unnatural sounds. The figure was that of a man with long shoulder length orange hair. His only piece of clothing is a pair of pleated black pants, missing most of the right leg and tattered at the ends, held up by a white sash. Hanging from the sash is a small black pouch ladened with several objects causing it to stretch slightly from the weight. The rest of his exposed body is pale and thin with muscle and bone that stands out sharply due to a clear lack of body fat. The skin on his torso is heavily scarred including a large brand shaped like a five pointed cross on his left pectoral. His eyes scan the horizon as another explosion erupts burning an entire tree to the ground. The sound of a strong gust of wind marks his disappearance from the ruins.

Throughout the woods, pairs of students met and formed teams as part of their initiation test. Their mission after finding a partner was to move together to the northern side of the forest battling any opposition in their way. There they should find an abandoned temple with relics for them to claim. Each pair was ordered to grab a single relic before returning to the top of the cliff where the test began. A simple acquisition mission with few chances of complications beyond the opposition they were being tested against, the Grimm.

The Grimm were creatures without souls that sought to kill Man for its continued existence. They were beasts similar in appearance to animals including, but not limited, to bears and wolves. They had bodies black in hue and masks of white and red bone. Their bodies usually had the same bone of their mask covering parts of their bodies as armor plates or spikes. Grimm were attracted to and empowered by the negative emotions and energy of Man.

Currently a pair of students approached the abandoned temple to acquire their relic. The two made their approach with significantly different styles that matched their own personalities. The first, Blake Belladonna was a teen girl with black, wavy hair that the middle of her back. The colors of her outfit muted, to blend with the shadows she regular called home. She wore a white sleeveless shirt with a black, buttoned vest with coattails that exposed her midriff, white shorts, and stockings starting mid thigh black at the top before fading to purple before ending in black boots. On her arms she wore black ribbons and on her left arm a black sleeve with a silver band. Completing the outfit was a large black bow on the center of her head.

Her face was the epitome of serious as her amber eyes scoured the forest for threats, the pupils widened to allow for her to see into the shadows of the trees. She seemed to melt into the shadows of the trees, silently stalking from one to another like a predator moving in for the kill. Her right hand never moved far from the hilt of the weapon poking up from behind her back.

Her partner, Yang Xaio Long was almost a polar opposite in appearance and movement. A teen the same age, her long mane of golden hair bounced wildly and reached the top of her posterior. Her outfit, much like her personality, is bright and colorful. A yellow, low-cut crop top with a black crest resembling a burning heart, a pair of black short shorts and a white asymmetrical back skirt. She wears an orange scarf, black finger-less gloves and brown knee-high platform boots with orange socks of differing lengths. On both wrists she wears her weapons, a pair of yellow mechanized gauntlets.

A smile adorned her face as her lilac eyes seemed to twinkle in joy from her carefree motions. Her taller frame allowed her to take longer strides but her muscular frame made her steps lumbering and heavy. Full of energy, she swung her arms to match her stride, strike nearby brush as her own steps crinkled and snapped on the leaves and sticks covering the forest floor. The cacophony it created caused Blake's ears to twitch and her olive cheeks to redden in frustration. It was almost like Yang wanted to be assaulted by the forest's denizens.

They arrived at an overlook above the temple, revealing the temple and large clearing around it to be devoid of any signs of life be them from friend or foe. Blake finally relaxed treading from the shadows to join Yang in silent observation. The temple was nothing more than a circular stone floor surrounded half way by a crumbling stone wall and pillar. Additional pillars of stone lined the interior edge of the stone wall giving a resting place for what was likely the relics they had come to acquire. Beyond the temple the clearing continued to another set of tall pillars with a small path through the middle. The path extended all the way to steeple like ruins in the middle of a chasm.

"Think this is it?" Yang inquired with a playful smile.

Blake's only response to the question was a critical stare. Yang's smile exchanged with a visage of shame at Blake's reaction. Yang sheepishly scratched the back of her head and offered a nervous chuckle as apology before the two refocused their attention on the temple. They picked their path cautiously down the embankment to the temple. Loose ground and no designated path made their trek down slow. Soon enough the partners entered the temple and began their examination of the relics.

"Chess pieces?" she sounded out with a raised eyebrow. Her confusion palpable as she stared at the simple game pieces. Blake turned her focus to Yang, who shrugged in response to her partner's bewildered gaze.

"Some of them are missing," Yang noted as she passed a few pillars that were mysteriously blank. "Looks like we weren't the first ones here."

"Well," Blake honed her attention back on the pieces, "I guess we should pick one?"

The two circled the temple slowly as they tried to determine which piece to select. Blake's eyes gave each piece an analytic scan as she passed. Her thoughts picked each piece apart on their uses and if it suited Yang and herself.

'Pawn, cannon fodder used primarily as sacrificial pieces, but invaluable if they make it into enemy territory. No, doesn't suit us,' she thought moving to the next piece, 'Rook, considered strongest defensive piece, used for castling to protect king. Another no.'

Behind her Yang approached a white knight, a huge childish grin on her face. So when Blake approached the next piece in line, the black King, she didn't have time to analyze it before her thoughts were interrupted by Yang.

"How about a cute little pony!" Yang cheered holding up a white Knight.

'Knight, offensive piece with unorthodox attack, slip past defenses. Seems like a match,' Blake thought as she analyzed the piece briefly before she answered.

"Sure," she replied with a smile and roll of her eyes.

If the knight wasn't a perfect match she doubted she could withstand her partner's unyielding smile. If she was stuck with her partner for the next four years then she could admit that there were worse people to have as a teammate. She could have been stuck with someone bossy, egotistical or rude.

'Like that Schnee girl,' Blake thought as an involuntary shudder made its way up her spin. She truly pitied the person stuck with her as a partner.

"Well that wasn't too hard," Yang idly mentioned to Blake, her tone as cheerful as ever.

"It's not like this place is very difficult to find," Blake replied with a smile of her own.

The two seemed to be enjoying the moment of relaxation but their worries grew as they both wondered why they hadn't seen any of the others. Coupling that with the ease they had in arriving to the temple it made it difficult for the two partners to relax. A shrill, high-pitched scream nearby proved that their worries were likely well founded.

"Some girl's in trouble!" Yang shouted in worry as she turned to the sound.

"Blake, did you hear that?" Yang asked her partner as she turned to check on her, "What should we do?"

Blake's attention wasn't focused on Yang or the scream they had heard. Instead, her eyes were on the sky above them and a sound she had picked up at roughly the same time as the scream. She was slack-jawed as she pointed up into the sky. Yang followed her partner's incredulous stare and her own eyes widened in awe.

A smaller teen girl was currently falling from the sky surprisingly near the form of a flying Grimm. She was flailing her arms and legs wildly in a desperate hope to slow her fall. Her red and black dress and red cloak wiping furiously in the air around her as she fell. Her brown and red hair pinned to her face that was paler than probably healthy, most likely a combination of fright and naturally pale skin. Silver eyes wider than would seem natural, also likely caused by the extreme terror that filled them as the pupils seemed to fill her entire eyes.

"HEADS UUUUUP!" the girl shouted in an earsplitting wail that caused Blake and Yang to wince.

The girl was just close enough to make out the small silver crosses that made up parts of her outfit, when another scream matching the one that originally caught Yang's attention filled the air. Time seemed to slow down for the pair as they watched another body come flying in out of nowhere. Blond hair and a tall scraggly male body made identifying the new arrival easy for them as he crashed into the falling girl's body. That's when time seemed to speed back up to normal and the two bodies disappeared. A crash in the trees nearby had them believing the blond had redirected them both into a tree vice on top of them.

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake wondered aloud, Yang and her both staring at the tree.

"I...I..." Yang stuttered unsure what to say in her state of dazed confusion.

She was saved from having to give any real response as a crashing sound erupted from the edge of the forest. A massive Ursa roared as it stumbled out of the forest. A blast of pink energy caused the Ursa to cry out before it collapsed into a pile of smoldering carcass.

"YEEEEEHAAAAW!" a girl exclaimed from behind the Ursa. An indistinguishable blob of white and pink flew over the Ursa carcass, landing on the ground in front of it.

The momentary pause of the blob reveals a girl with shoulder length red hair. Her turquoise eyes wide with excitement and energy she glances around the clearing briefly before she returns her gaze to the expired bear Grimm. Her clothing, an odd assortment of colors and themes giving her a quirky appearance to go with her obviously quirky personality. She wears a collared black vest beneath which she wears a short sleeve white top that forms that has a tiny heart shape cut out just above her cleavage. She also wears a short pink skirt that ends mid-thigh and matching finger-less gloves and shoes. Her back and shoulders are protected by armor built into the vest. A white bow hangs off the back of skirt to complete her outfit.

"Awwww..." the read cries in dismay, "It's broken."

A moment later a boy appears out from behind the Ursa in an acrobatic flip. He has long black hair with a magenta highlight and wears a green long-sleeved tailcoat with black and gold trimming and pink cuffs and a pair of off-white pants. He leans heavily on one of the Ursa's spikes trying to catch his breath. The girl is now standing on top of the Ursa's head staring down at it intently.

"Ewwwww," she exclaimed looking at the Ursa.

"Nora..." The boy said still gasping for air. "Please... don't ever... do that again."

Having caught his breath he finally looked to where the girl previously stood only to find he was alone with the Grimm's slowly fading corpse. His pink eyes scan the area nearby for his partner, no clue as to what direction the bundle of energy moved. Blake and Yang watched silently trying to figure out the pair as the girl raced by them heading straight for a white Rook piece.

"OoOoOoO!" she emitted in interest as she grabbed the piece. She immediately started dancing and singing with the piece.

"I'm Queen of the castle! I'm Queen of the castle!" she sang with the piece balanced awkwardly on various parts of her body while she posed during her short dance.

"NOOORA!" the boy hollered getting the attention of the spastic girl. She froze with the piece balanced on her head with both arms straight out and one leg raised in the air behind her. Yang stared in uncertainty at the hyperactive girl. Blake on the other hand crossed her arms and glared at the highly annoying person.

"Coming, Ren!" She answered in a sing-song voice catching the piece she let drop off her head skipping back towards her partner.

"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" Blake asked shaking her head as Yang just watched her skip away.

"I..." Yang tried to respond again only to be interrupted by the cries of another Grimm and the smashing of trees.

A girl carrying a short spear and shield and in leather armor with gold and crimson trimmings with hair matching the red material of her outfit raced out of the woods before being followed shortly after by an enormous scorpion like Grimm. She leaped over one claw as it swung one and immediately rolled under the other as she landed.

"JAUNE!" the girl cried out as she searched for someone.

"PYRRHA!" A boy's voice called back. A closer glance at the source by Yang and Black revealed the blond boy dangling upside from the tree they heard a crash in earlier.

He couldn't quite figure out how he ended up in the tree. Near the end of his impromptu flight, courtesy of the giant Grimm chasing Pyrrha, he had suddenly appeared on top of the branch from which he now hung. The sudden appearance upright on an uneven surfaced made him dizzy and he fell only for his foot to become snagged on the branch. He swung himself around violently trying to get free to help his partner. A whistling sound and snap announced his sudden freedom. Only to fall head first on to the branch below knocking himself into a daze.

An unexpected scuffling sound alerted Blake and Yang to something behind them. They spun to find Yang's sister behind them. She appeared to be uninjured with no sign of even a blemish to her pale skin. Her red and brown hair only appeared to be a little out of place from her unexpected arrival through the air earlier. Her black dress, red cloak, black tights and black knee high boots with red laces also seemed to be undamaged from her fall.

"WHOA!" she cried out as she stared warily at the massive Grimm.

"Ruby?! Wha...?" Yang babbled staring at her sister. She was trying to figure out how she had gotten behind them as the only way into the temple was either through them or through the air. The second way likely wouldn't allow her to get there so quietly. Ruby moved towards Yang with her arms outstretched looking for a hug.

"Yang!" she shouted in excitement as Yang moved towards her with outstretched arms as well. They both fell backwards as a blur of pink and white appeared between them jumping up with arms in the air.

"NORA!" the crazy Ursa riding red head from before shouted startling the small group.

At this point Yang was about to snap from all the craziness happening. Nora stood next to her shifting her weight from foot to foot in excitement while Ruby silently watched her sister on the verge of exploding. Blake continued to try to comment on the events happening around them. It was all in an attempt to make the circumstances seem even just a little less insane.

"Did she just run all the way here with a Deathstalker on her tail?" Blake questioned finally pushing Yang over her limit. An explosion of fire surrounded Yang as her eyes turned to red.

"I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!" Yang shouted loudly. Ren finally caught up with Nora joining the group gasping as Yang dared anyone to do something crazy. As if fate was staring at a stopwatch, two seconds pass before the insanity resumed in a fervor. Blake and Ruby looked up at the sky before Ruby slapped Yang's arm to get her attention.

"Ummm... Yang?" Ruby said pointing up at the sky. Yang didn't even look as her shoulders sank in despair.

"HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME!" a girl, appearing to be only a white speck hanging from a giant flying Grimm, cried down at the group. The entire group stared back up at her before Ruby replied to the girl's cries.

"I said jump," she offered with a shrug like it wasn't completely insane to ride around on a giant flying monster and then leap off of it.

"She's gonna fall," Blake added with a smirk.

"She'll be fine," Ruby replied calmly.

"She's falling..." Ren countered barely keeping the mirth from his voice.

The blond in the nearby tree smiled as he saw the white haired girl fall. He immediately took a running leap towards her. Stretching his arms out he caught her mid fall.

"Just dropping in?" he asked with a suave tone. The girl didn't reply as she just looked down at the still rapidly approaching ground. She looked at him in disbelief before it finally registered to him that he had down nothing to actually stop her fail and they both fell, now together. They landed a few seconds later in front of the group, Jaune first on his stomach and the white haired girl on his back.

"My hero..." the girl in white replied as she looked at her nails not moving from the position she landed in sitting on his back.

Her name is Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. Her appearance seems to match the cold and icy facade she typically holds in front of others. A pale blue jacket with a red lining and becomes a deeper shade of blue as you get closer to the wrists covers a thigh-length of similar coloring with a piece of black lace on the neck. On the back of her jacket is the Schnee crest which looks like a snowflake. She's wearing a pair of heeled, mid-calf white boots to finish the ensemble. Her long, white hair she keeps in an off-center ponytail with a small tiara at the base resembling icicles. Her blue eyes and pale skin in combination with her outfit and her cold attitude was leading to the increasing use of the nickname Ice Queen when people talked about her. A clearly visible scar runs over her left eye.

"My back..." Jaune whimpered. Behind them the Pyrrha, in her crimson and gold, still ran trying to evade the giant Deathstalker that trailed her. A cry from the Grimm and the sound of solid contact announced the pending arrival of Pyrrha as she crashed in a cloud of dirt and dust in front of the group.

"Great! The gang's all here. Now we can die together!" Yang mused sarcastically.

"Not if I can help it," Ruby replied with smirk not picking up on the sarcasm her sister had used. In the midst of a battle cry she took off towards the Deathstalker pulling the red block of steel from her back. It rapidly unfolded into a large, red and black scythe.

"Ruby, WAIT!" Yang shouted after her sister as the rest of the group watched in terror.

A gunshot from the back of her scythe propelled the girl forward at ludicrous speeds using the large recoil as a boost. She closed the gap quickly between her and the Deathstalker only to be slammed into the ground after colliding with it. She pulled herself up slowly stumbling out assurances to her friends that she was indeed okay.

"D... Do... Don't worry... I'm totally fine!" she shouted to her friends as the clacking of the approaching Deathstalker grew almost deafeningly loud behind her.

She fired a quick shot from the large rifle barrel that made up the shaft of her scythe before turning back around and beating a hasty retreat. She quickly collapsed her scythe before returning it to the holster beneath her cloak on her back. Yang took off towards her sister in concern knowing that if she didn't go help her she could very well die.

"RUBY!" Yang shouted in worry towards her sister.

Ruby was pulling away from the Deathstalker but the large flying Grimm, known as a Nevermore, had a different idea as it rained giant feathers down on the two girls like spears. One such feather impaling the red cloak trailing behind Ruby. She jerked to a stop at the sudden resistance and struggled to try to pull herself free from the feather.

"GET OUT OF THERE!" Yang shouted trying to move faster but could see she wouldn't get there in time.

"I'm trying!" Ruby shouted in response only to freeze when the clicking of the Deathstalker's legs ceased. She turned slowly to discover the Deathstalker's tail rising in preparation to strike. Just as the tail shot forward she closed her eyes for her impending death. The clang of the Deathstalker's tail striking metal, the sound of cracking and popping, and a sudden drop of temperature along with the lack of a fatal strike caused Ruby to open her eyes hesitantly. All Ruby seemed to be able to see was white for a second leading her to believe that maybe she was dead after all. Then she could hear Weiss begin a lecture as the white moved away revealing the Deathstalker's tail that had been stopped by the figure in white and then subsequently frozen by Weiss' attack. Ruby watched what she could now tell was a man move slowly out of the way. She took in his appearance and found herself slowly becoming more afraid despite his part in the life saving rescue.

The man seemed to be wearing white bone plated armor over top of a black skin tight under-suit, the suit reminded Ruby, disturbingly, of a creature of Grimm. The armor was in more of a jacket configuration with multiple overlapping plates on his chest and several plates on his arms and back. Two stripes of white extended down the front of his legs before connecting to knee high bone boots. His face was locked in a scowl and was covered with strips of bone as well that seemed to barely stand out against his pale skin. His cheeks were gaunt and dark circles surrounded his almost empty looking amber eyes and his head was topped with orange hair, long and somewhat spiked but knotted. A short sword with the guard being a large pentagram with a creepy skull in the middle gave him an appearance more intimidating and less heroic than one might hope for in a rescuer. He moved the sword to his back sliding and locking it into a sheath attached to the armor itself.

"You are so childish..." Weiss spoke, the exasperation she felt with her partner heavy in her tone.

"Weiss..." Ruby hissed trying to get her partner's attention without causing a scene

"And dimwitted... and hyperactive... and don't even get me started on your fighting style..." Weiss continued as Ruby turned her attention to her partner. Weiss was crouched in front of her and rose to her feet her eyes focused completely on Ruby. It appeared that she didn't even see the man standing behind her partner as she fell into the rant.

"Ummm Weiss..." Ruby tried to interrupt and get her partner's attention. She was utterly disturbed by the silence coming from behind her and the man that stood there.

"and I suppose I can be a bit... difficult but if we're going to do this... we're going to have to do this together..." Weiss rambled on much to Ruby's dismay. She would have to yell to get her partner's attention and likely upset her since it seemed she was trying to come to an understanding with Ruby.

"WEISS!" Ruby interjected finally breaking through the bossy girl's apology. This only served to make Weiss angry as she moved to be within an inch of her partner's face. Her eyes begged for an excuse valid enough to interrupt her.

"WHAT?! Can't you seem I am trying to apologize!?" She yelled as she glared in her partner's face.

"Yes... and I really, really appreciate it. I truly do but..." Ruby said showing sincere regret at having to stop her partner's speech. She pointed behind her emphatically drawing her partner's attention away from her and towards the man in armor behind her. Weiss' pale skin seemingly became paler, as her eyes widened and she backed away pulling her rapier, Myrtenaster, from her side.

"Who the hell are you?" Weiss growled as she stepped past Ruby who was still trapped by the large feather. She positioned herself between her disabled partner and the new threat.

"Uhhh... Weiss he did block the Deathstalker's tail from reaching me," Ruby explained as her partner challenged the unknown man. A smirk from the man was the only response they got before a blur of tan and yellow tackled Ruby knocking the feather out of the ground and freeing her.

"Oh my god... Ruby I thought I was going to lose you!" Yang cried as she held her sister in a tight hug completely ignoring the unknown man.

"ACK... can't... breathe..." Ruby whispered as she was being slowly suffocated by the crushing weight of her sister's desperate hug. Yang released her hug to turn her focus on her sister's saviors.

"Ooookay... who is tall, dark, and brooding?" she queried her sister sizing up the man suspiciously.

"My name is Ichigo Kurosaki..." he replied with a raspy voice that sounded unused for some time causing Yang to tilt her head. The man didn't appear to be any older than they were which came as a shock to her. He abruptly and violently coughed moving a hand to cover his mouth. The single cough swiftly developed into a full on attack. Blood splattered into the hand he used to cover it seeping between his fingers and down the back of his hand. His armor and black suit seemed to liquefy as he collapsed on to his hands and knees. The swirling black and white emulsion flowed across his torso and vanished into the hilt of the sword on his back. The extraordinary incident ended with the pentagram tumbling off his back and landing at his side.

He now seemed to be wearing just a tattered pair of black pants and nothing else. The skin it revealed was pale white and covered in the soft pink and white of scars. Large and small the scars seemed to crisscross over the entirety of his torso and the well-defined muscle and bone beneath his skin. He seemed thin as if he hadn't eaten in a while and his breathing was harsh as he continued to cough up small amounts of blood.

"Oh god... what happened to you?" Yang shouted in concern as Ruby and Weiss stared in muted silence. Ichigo looked up at them from his hands and knees his amber eyes now a warm brown that appeared hollow and emotionless. A caw from the flying Nevermore and the cracking of the ice containing the Deathstalker followed a second later stopping any thoughts about answering the blond's questions.

"No... time... run..." he struggled to say as he raised one hand to point off to his left. The top of what appeared to be a stone ruin stood out sharply against the sky over top some nearby trees. Yang grabbed Ichigo throwing him over her shoulder grabbing the strange piece of wood in the process. The group of nine took off running towards the ruins in an attempt to escape the two large Grimm after them.


	2. Chapter 2: Nighttime Escapades of RWBY

Revised 11/12/14

Corrected Typos and Grammar Issues

I don't own Bleach or RWBY.  
>This is the second chapter I have posted today and can promise that this rate is unlikely to continue. I work around 60 hours a week in a very physically demanding job. I will attempt to maintain a one chapter a week posting but we shall see. Also please note that I may have pushed the character's to where some might say they are a little OOC but we have seen that Blake and Yang both carry a lot of baggage (Adam and White Fang or her Step-mother's death and her own mother's disappearance) that I think would influence their impressions more so than Ruby. Weiss... is going to be a challenge for me as I feel she is completely misunderstood by the Team for all of Volume 1, I think she is a good girl that just doesn't have the social experience necessary to interact with people her age.<p>

I am currently taking this in a triangle with Ichigo/Blake/Yang.

Chapter 2: Nighttime Escapades of RWBY

A man silently stared into a patient's room in Beacon's infirmary. Beacon was the area's premier combat training school for future hunter's and huntresses of Grimm. The man sipped his cup of coffee slowly as he observed the boy resting on the bed inside. The man's gray hair is disheveled and his brown eyes look heavy with exhaustion as he adjusts his small glasses, the frames are thin and black with zigzagging shape on either side of the lenses. His green and black suit is wrinkled and out-of-place giving the appearance that he has been up for much longer than is likely normal. The only item of his outfit that still seems unfazed is the dark-green scarf with a purple cross pinned through the front of it. This man is Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon academy and a former hunter.

Ozpin was concerned with the new arrival that Yang brought back from the initiation. Though concerned would likely be an understatement as he pondered his new guest. Doctors had immediately set to work examining the teen as soon as he was brought in and their assessments were far from good.

Ozpin had watched the initiates closely and his first sign that something, or someone was moving around them was when Ruby had seemingly disappeared in a blur of white and black. It seems that her sudden appearance on the ground had left her dizzy and confused to the point that she didn't even realize at first that she hadn't crashed. He had continued to watch the Pyrrha and the Deathstalker to discover that the Deathstalker had never actually struck Pyrrha when she flew into the group. She had been knocked away from a likely fatal strike by the same black and white blur before landing in front of the other initiates. He had considered getting involved at that point but whatever was interfering in the test only had the best interest of his students in mind. When Ruby had rashly charged the Deathstalker and placed herself in great risk the combined efforts of Weiss and the unknown man saved her life. Without his interference Weiss may have been able to stop the Deathstalker in time but that was up for debate and really unnecessary what-if to even debate. The boy he watched had stopped the Deathstalker's tail without even a glance at the actual enemy using the sword sheathed on his back to block the strike.

"Who are you, Ichigo Kurosaki?" Ozpin muttered staring into the room.

Medical equipment surrounded the bed as the patient beeps of the heart monitor continued their steady observation of the unconscious teen. He was now dressed in a hospital gown and his orange hair was clean and knot-free after the staff had bathed him once he was stabilized. A steady IV supplied him with fluids and nutrients since the boy was dehydrated and starved on his arrival at the infirmary. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully likely for the first time in ages if the circles around his eyes were any indication. He was actually strapped to the bed at Ozpin's request because it was unknown what kind of person he truly was based on the few interactions observed. The boys clothing, if you were generous enough to call the rags he was found in clothing, had been disposed of and his remaining personal effects left in a small box on the nightstand near him. A pair of snowflake like hair clips, a golden medallion, a silver bracelet with a pentacle cross, and the strange pentagram of wood with the engraved skull sat inside the box and their meaning lost on the people who saw them. The boy was a mystery to the world of Remnant as well since there was no record of his existence and searches based on the objects found with him revealed no matching history as well. It was like he had just fallen into their world from out of nowhere.

Approaching footsteps echoed softly through the hallway yanking Ozpin from his thoughts. He peered slowly over to his new companion and a small smile found it's way to his face. Glynda Goodwitch was a close friend and amazing second to Ozpin, always giving him advice and new directions for his thoughts when things seemed dark. The strict woman's blond hair was tied up into a tight bun. Her outfit was tailored to give her a strict appearance as well. A long-sleeved white suit with an opening just enough to expose just a small portion of her chest accompanied along black business skirt and the heeled black boots she wore. On her back was a black tattered cape with a purple lining giving her an overall intimidating but approachable appearance.

"Ozpin, he isn't likely to wake any time soon. The doctor and nurses are keeping him drugged so his body can recover. He over used his Aura to the point that he was using his actual life-force to keep his powers going. I have never heard of a case where someone could do that and actually function. It's truly amazing but depressing at the same time. What could make a boy that age capable of such disregard for his own life?" Glynda mused quietly. She stared sadly at the boy in the room pondering the mystery as well. Her eyes widened in surprise at Ozpin's delayed reply to her question.

"It was likely whatever gave him those scars. With that many visible scars... one would have to question how many emotional and mental scars lie hidden beneath his damaged exterior." Ozpin offered taking another sip of his coffee. Glynda stared at her boss and friend puzzling over his statement and what it would mean for their new arrival.

"So what do you plan on doing with him?" Glynda asked almost afraid of his answer. He did have a tendency to make her life difficult on the best of days. She could only imagine the difficulties a broken child such as this one could bring.

"We wait. We have cameras observing the room..." Ozpin began before a small explosion and indecipherable shouts filled the hallway. "We let the members of Team RWBY be our envoy to the boy. I don't the poor nurses can hold back Ms. Long for any longer anyway." Ozpin finished with a smile as a sigh fell from Glynda's lips.

"Those children will be the death of me yet. I shall bring them here. Are you letting them stay as long as they want?" Glynda asked already knowing the likely answer.

"Of course. I believe an exception should be made in this circumstance." Ozpin replied before taking another sip. He turned away and began to walk as the shouts in the hallway grew louder. Glynda stalked towards the shouts letting her heels echo loudly already donning the 'mask of the Evil Witch' as some students had taken to calling her glaring scowl.

"I can't believe those stupid nurses tried to keep us from checking on him!" Yang shouted in disbelief. She turned to her new team looking for support. Weiss just shrugged and Blake buried her nose deeper in a book she was reading, Ruby was the only one to agree apparently, nodding emphatically.

"But Yang... did you really have to throw that man through front door?" Blake asked without pulling her head free of the book. Ruby snorted holding back a laugh at the man's misfortune at trying to stop the angry young woman. Weiss just shook her head at the childish behavior her other teammates were displaying. They would be lucky not to get seriously punished.

"He helped Ruby twice! Maybe even saved her life with Weiss' help. He had pushed himself to the point of collapse to save my baby-sister and they want to let him wake up alone in an unfamiliar place? They said they couldn't find any known relatives! I bet those idiots didn't even try." Yang argued back getting further nods of agreement from Ruby. Ruby had learned long ago that when her sister was in this mood that silently agreeing was always the best course of action.

"I just hope that Ms. Goodwitch doesn't tear us a new one for disturbing the infirmary. I mean we are basically in a hospital and you go and make a scene. I can totally see the family resemblance now." Weiss mused getting a growl from Yang.

Yang spun quickly back around towards the white haired girl giving her a glare as her aura began it's fiery orange glow. Her eyes transformed into the molten red of lava that came when she was angry. "What was that?" she asked giving the girl a chance to retract her implied insult of both Ruby and Yang. Ruby stood behind Yang waving her hands and shaking her head. She crossed her arms in a giant X to tell the Schnee heiress to stop while she was ahead. Unfortunately Weiss was in no mood to listen to Ruby and straight up ignored her as she continued on her rant.

"You two are like children. We could have waited until visitation time tomorrow. It's not like he's going anywhere any time soon. Instead, you risked our reputation to go sit next to an unconscious, filthy boy who looks like he could be a serial killer. He was probably out in those woods for a reason! He probably is a monster or one of those filthy faunus of the White Fang. I say throw him back in the woods and leave him to rot." Weiss said causing Blake to suddenly shift from beside her to next to Yang her eyes glowing a bright yellow along with Yang's burning crimson.

"What did you just say about the Faunus?" Blake growled threateningly towards the white haired girl.

"I'm sorry Princess, did we ruined your perfect reputation by checking on someone in the hospital? Why don't you just go back to the dorm room? I mean why are you even here anyway?" Yang asked raising her fists like she was about to punch something. In response, Weiss' hand drifted towards the handle of her rapier only for Blake's to inch up to her own weapon.

"I'm only here to keep you from getting into more trouble. And the Faunus are just animals that should go live in the woods and leave civilized life to us humans." Weiss replied unapologetic for her racist words.

"You spoiled rich, BITCH!" Blake shouted grabbing a hold of her Gambol Shroud before the sound of leather slapping against skin caused her to retract her hand and the entire group to spin on the new arrival.

"Ms. Goodwitch!" all four girls shouted in surprise. It was indeed surprising to see the second person in charge of Beacon already on the scene of their disobedient adventure.

"Good evening ladies... I believe curfew began almost an hour ago?" she asked rhetorically staring at her watch.

"We... We..." Ruby stuttered trying to make up some logical reason for violating so many rules on only their second day but the frightening woman made her freeze.

"We couldn't sleep after we heard the boy we met was in the infirmary in critical condition." Weiss offered surprising the other three.

"That explains two rule violations by your group but the use of weapons outside of designated areas is completely forbidden. Why were you reaching for your weapon, Ms. Belladonna?" Glynda asked staring down the poor girl. She looked nervously around trying to come up with an excuse but nothing came to mind so she bowed her head in guilt.

"I insulted my teammates and continued to rile them up because I disagreed with what they were doing. Instead of trying to calmly turn them from their disobedience I provoked them to act even worse. It's my fault, Ms. Goodwitch." Weiss offered coming to Blake's rescue and surprising them all.

"My my, Ms. Schnee. I didn't expect such behavior from one held in such high regard. I'll have to ask you to accompany me to my office. The rest of you were asked by the headmaster to wait in room fifteen with Ichigo Kurosaki until he awakens. He has also canceled all first year classes tomorrow as an investigation will begin involving the initiation test today." Glynda said stalking off. Blake, Ruby and Yang all whispered thanks to Weiss who only glared in response before she followed after Ms. Goodwitch. Finally, the two moved around the corner allowing the three girls to relax.

"That was weird... Weiss actually took the blame. Maybe she isn't all bad." Yang offered in confusion.

"Her views on the Faunus are disgusting though." Blake replied with a quiet growl.

"I think it must be hard for her though. She has to be this perfect face for the Schnee family and the White Fang does nothing but attack them. Maybe there is more behind it than just plain discrimination?" Ruby offered in defense of the currently missing fourth member of their team.

"Her family treats Faunus like slaves, should I expect her to fall that far from the tree?" Blake mused stalking away from the two sisters leaving them to ponder her words.

"There is more to all this than what Blake is saying. It sounded like it was personal for Blake as well?" Ruby said to her sister only getting a nod before she followed after Blake.

The two caught up to Blake just outside room fifteen. Through the window they silently stared at the boy who in the few minutes between Ozpin's departure and their arrival had descended into violent nightmares. He tossed violently from side to side in his restraints. Ugly bruises were forming on his wrists as the blankets slowly fell away causing the three girls to gasp in shock. They rushed into the room Blake and Yang immediately working on releasing the wrist restraints as the Ruby worked on his ankles. He was wet with sweat and was now screaming and moaning in the nightmare he seemed trapped within.

"Ruby grab some cold water and a washcloth. Yang help me get him free from the blanket and the arms raised on the side of the bed so he doesn't fall off." Blake ordered quickly as the three moved to help the distressed boy.

Yang carefully moved his IV away from the arm rails before getting them in place. Ruby returned with a small bowl of water and a washcloth as Blake requested. Blake soaked the cloth and the wrung out the excess water before lightly wiping the teen's brow. He calmed slightly as the cool cloth ran across his brow. Yang pulled a chair over to his bedside before taking a hold of his right hand. It was in a tight fist, knuckles white and drops of blood slowly dripping from where his nails dug into the palm. She slowly rubbed his arm and hand trying to relax away the tension. Within a couple minutes he seemed to relax before drifting off into more amicable dreams.

"Wow... that was exciting." Ruby commented falling back into a large cushioned chair in the corner. She curled up bringing her knees to her chest. Blake eventually wiped away most of the sweat from the boy's face and neck before grabbing a new cloth soaked in the cold water resting on his forehead.

"He has a fever..." Blake explained to the other girls. "His nightmares were probably worsened by the fever. It might be bad enough to cause hallucinations if he was awake. We should probably get a nurse."

The group was silent for a few minutes as two of the members watched their usually energetic, angry, and sometimes violent member make soft noises in the boy's ear as she softly stroked his arm with one hand and held his hand with the other. It was unusual sight for the girls sister as she realized she was seeing a side to Yang that she hadn't really seen before.

"I... I'll go!" Ruby suddenly shouted jumping up from the seat and racing towards the door stumbling and tripping over herself in the process. She suddenly felt out of place and uncomfortable with the unusual tension in the room.

"Let me help you!" Blake offered retreating with her team leader out of the room leaving Yang alone and in her own world as she tried to sooth the young man. In a minute when she finally sat up, pulling away from Ichigo, she realized her sister and Blake had disappeared causing her to grab her long thick mane and pull it in front of her, playing with it nervously.

She wasn't entirely sure why she had done what she did with Ichigo the past few minutes but something about their meeting earlier and the reason he was here had her wanting to do everything she could to make him better. He had put his life at risk using his powers to save her sister despite his terrible condition, so maybe that was why she felt obligated to help. She shook her head as she realized that wasn't it at all. No it had been his eyes. They had been so empty of life and hope. Just hollow holes that had given up on life itself. He had protected the one thing that mattered to her at risk of his own life, mostly because he didn't care about said life anymore. That was what disturbed her most. When his armor disappeared and revealed his body and the awful scars she felt her heart drop into her stomach.

She covered him with a sheet from the waist down before slowly pulling the gown he wore up to reveal the angry scars below. So many crossed his body angry marks of a life that was obviously difficult. The most disturbing was the large burned circle with a pentacle in the middle. The scar sat right in the middle of his chest and the meaning of it's shape was odd. How these scars were possible and he was still alive was unknown to her. She soon began to trace some of his scars with her finger tip. A light orange glow of her aura followed scar after scar starting with the smallest and working her way to the largest. She stopped with the worst looking one tracing it from where it appeared on his side from underneath his back all the way around to the center of his abs. The scar was obviously from a blade of some kind. The cut was surgically smooth and precise but its depth meant that the only thing that had stopped the blade from going through him entire was his spine. How could he have survived most of these injuries was a question that she doubted even the doctors could answer. The other question that she knew only he could answer was why anyone would inflict these kinds of injuries on a child and by their age they had occurred at least two and three years ago when he had been around Ruby's age. That thought caused her to cry.

"What kind of monsters would do this to someone so young?" she posed the question to the gods as she stared at Ichigo with tears pouring down her face. Outside the window a nurse, Ruby and Blake silently watched tears coming to their own eyes at the display. Ruby nearly gagged when she saw the scars much more clearly now that his skin was taking a healthier tan tone causing the white marks to standout more against the color. Blake's bow twitched ever so slightly as she thought of some of her own scars from years past.

A knock on the door pulled forced Yang to pull away from Ichigo only after she pulled his gown back down. The door opened a few seconds later as the nurse entered the room. She held a small tray with a few different syringes containing medicine for the unconscious boy. Giving a brief nod to Yang she moved towards his IV, Yang quietly moving aside to let the nurse work.

"This medicine should help with the fever, nausea, and pain. The tranquilizers we gave him should wear off by morning. I just thought I should warn you that Professor Ozpin asked us to keep him restrained as we don't know how he'll respond waking up in an unfamiliar area." the nurse said softly getting a glare from two of the three girls.

"You want to keep him tied up like some animal?" Blake questioned with a hardened glare. Yang just pushed the nurse away before sitting back next to Ichigo taking his hand back in her.

"Thanks, if Ichigo needs anything else we'll let you know." she said coldly.

Ruby was the only one to try to act amicable knowing that nurse was just doing her job by warning them. "Thanks! Do you have another chair?" Ruby asked as the nurse nodded waving for her to follow.

Ruby returned with the chair offering it to Blake who sat on the other side of Ichigo changing out the washcloth for a fresh one before picking her book back up and reading it, every so often peering over the top of it to check on the boy. She then crawled back up in the cushioned chair in the corner pulling her knees to her chest before resting her head against them. She quickly drifted off into an uneasy sleep. Yang lowered the arm rails on her side removing the uncomfortable obstacle and rested her head against his arm slowly running her hand up and down his arm in relaxing pattern. Within a few minutes she to fell asleep her hair a pillow between her head and Ichigo's arm.


	3. Chapter 3: An Unexpected Offer

I don't own Bleach or RWBY.

So I figure if I maintain my chapter sizes around 4k words I might be able to update more often so I am going to attempt to maintain that word count. I think it will balance update speed with out interrupting the overall plot with needless breaks. I have gotten a lot of reviews in the short time this has been posted and will try to provide some feedback at the end of chapters. I will warn you that plot questions may not be answered because it may take away from twists and overall build up to the story. I have a good idea where this story will be by the end of the first semester at Beacon for team RWBY. It may develop slower as building up character interest is important to me.

Chapter 3: An Unexpected Offer

Ichigo woke up with a start, jerking up from the pillows with a gasp before immediately falling back on them. He was laying in a partially reclined position allowing him to see much of the room. He tried to move again only to feel a weight restricting on both of his arms pinning him down. His eyes narrowed in rage at the thought of someone trying to restrain him. A quick glance to his right arm revealed the face of a pretty blond girl using said appendage as a pillow. He gave a curious glance to his left and ascertained a similar situation as a girl with black hair and a giant bow in her hair was using his left arm. A book rested on his upper arm still held partially open by the girl's small hands. The steady beeps of a heart monitor and the smell of antiseptics answered the growing question of where he had ended up. The surrounding room was white with a window to the hallway to his right. A window to the outside was on the left side of the room revealing a large clock tower with green glowing lights. Sitting in the corner of the window was a large recliner with another girl curled up asleep. He recognized her as the girl he had saved. Rosey or something was her name, he thought. He sighed knowing that he was probably wrong, he was always terrible at remembering people's names.

Ichigo sighed softly as his eyes alternated between each girl in silently frustration. They both looked so cute while they slept he couldn't force himself to wake them yet. He did wonder why the two were sleeping on his arms but that would have to be a question answered later. He spent a few seconds looking at each closer trying to remember something about either. They had been there when Rosey was fighting that scorpion hollow. The blond girl had arrived shortly after the rescue to check on her sister and then stood to challenge him if he was a threat. Ichigo resisted snorting at the thought. He had barely been able to stand at that point. His thoughts had been distracted and until the pain hit he hadn't realized he was at his limit for his human body.

He was stuck in his human body despite every attempt at using the combat pass to exit. In his irritation he had tried forcing his spirit energy in to the poor piece of wood. Instead of it activating like he thought would happen it reacted similar to when he was learning his Fullbring. Thinking back to his training he was able to activate his Fullbring again despite its previous theft at the hands of Ginjo Kugo, the first substitute soul reaper. Fullbrings relied on the hollow spiritual pressure that some humans contained do to contamination from hollows while in the womb. His own hollow powers were a part of his zanpaktou so maybe that was why he never truly lost it.

Some mumbles and shifting to his right quietly pulled him from his thoughts as he watched the blond shift to get a little more comfortable. A small pout came to her lips, making her look just a bit more cute than before. Another small motion, this time from his right, caused him to shift his attention. Blake still slept deeply and appeared unmoving until her bow twitched. Ichigo couldn't keep the dumbfounded look that slipped on to his face as the bow twitched and moved every so often. The urge to reach out and touch it had him irritated because with his hands pinned he couldn't do anything but stare at the unusual sight. He really wanted to know what was making that bow move so oddly. After a minute the bow ceased any further movements as the girl shifted slightly in her sleep.

A cold wet feeling he soon felt on his right arm caused him to groan softly, he really hoped Yang wasn't drooling on him. Another glance her way confirmed his fears as a steady trickle of drool from the corner of her mouth was beginning to run down his arm. A small drop of sweat rolled down his face in irritation and disbelief, as he cursed a little too loudly. Giggles from across the room told him he wasn't the only one awake now. A look past the Blake's bow revealed the girl in the chair was now awake. Her eyes were closed as she covered her mouth trying to stifle the giggles. When her eyes did open, revealing her silver eyes, they twinkled in mirth at the poor boy's misfortune.

"Yang... she has been known to drool when she sleeps." the girl said with a smirk as she rose from her chair. She crossed the room silently before stopping at the foot of the bed. She bowed her head slightly before speaking again.

"Thank you very much. You saved my life." She spoke softly before Ichigo's scoff caused her to raise her head. He appeared put off by her heartfelt thanks causing her to tilt her head slightly in confusion.

"I don't need thanks for doing what's right, Rosey?" Ichigo said modestly causing the young girl's eyes to widen.

"It's Ruby but you were close. My last name is Rose and... you weren't... I mean you were in terrible shape when we got you here. The doctor's were in a panic... Aura overuse, dehydrated, and in starvation. They said it was a wonder you could move let alone use your aura to power your abilities... which by the way are SOOOO COOL!" she rambled ending in a jump with a fist extended in the air and small shout waking the other two girls suddenly. Blake jerked awake flipping her book in the air as she fell back from her chair. She caught herself and then the book, catching it without losing her place. Yang, on the other hand fell, backwards out of her chair before leaping up fully alert and bouncing from foot to foot.

"I'm up, I'm up. What's up?" she asked staring around the unfamiliar room before she remembered where she had been the night before. A quick glance in Ichigo's direction had her smiling as she moved face to face with him. Her lilac eyes stared deep into his own brown eyes trying to pick up anything wrong. She stared deeply as different emotions played out across his eyes. First anxiety, caution, surprise, and finally ending on the deep-seated hollowness from when they met.

"Uhhh.. Yo!" Ichigo offered trying to sink into his pillows deeper. The girl suddenly pulled him into a bone crushing hug forcing all the air from his lungs as she squealed in excitement.

"You woke up! I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to thank you for saving my baby-sister." Yang said before pulling away to stand by his bed side again.

"Thank you for saving my team leader." Blake replied formally giving a deep bow causing Ichigo to blush slightly at all the attention.

"Really it was nothing. I couldn't just stand-by and let a girl be killed by a hollow like that." Ichigo said looking away modestly from the girls.

"A what?" Yang asked giving him an odd look.

"The scorpion with the white mask? A hollow is what they are called." Ichigo said with confidence.

"NOPE!" Ruby said emphasizing the P with a pop. "Those are called Grimm. How couldn't you know that?" Her silver eyes glittering with curiosity.

Ichigo looked between the girls a little confused. He knew a hollow when he saw one and he definitely knew what one felt like... and that wasn't a hollow. At least not any normal hollow. "Huh, I guess I was wrong then now that you mention it. That couldn't have been a hollow, no spiritual pressure."

"Yeah, Grimm don't have Auras. This is also common knowledge." the Blake replied bluntly giving Ichigo a steady glare now as she crossed her arms. Ichigo scratched the back of his head nervously having no idea how to continue this conversation without raising way too many questions that he had either no answers for or didn't want to talk about because of how painful it all was still. So instead he changed the subject.

"I got Ruby's name but I didn't catch your names?" Ichigo asked hoping for a miracle that they would drop it.

"I'm Yang." The Yang offered before pointing to her partner. "And this is Blake. Now what is a hollow?" Yang asked her eyes narrowing in a strong refusal to back down.

"The corrupted souls of humans who died. Either corrupted by their own evil from when they were alive, the corruption caused by another hollow, or their inability to move on to the afterlife because of something hold them to the world of the living. They lose their hearts and form masks to hide their pain from the world. The devour other souls in an attempt to fill the void in their souls from their missing hearts, usually starting with their family and friends." Ichigo explained quickly getting quickly paling expressions from the girls before they each sat from the dizzying topic.

"That's terrible!" Ruby exclaimed while Blake just nodded in agreement. Yang shuddered before attempting to extract more information from Ichigo. While what he said sounded terrible and he spoke with confidence the idea was foreign to them leading her to believe maybe he was suffering from some mental incapacitation as well.

"Why do you know about these hollows but nobody else has even heard of them?" Yang asked causing the other girls to return their gazes to the teen boy. It really did seem odd to the girls when Yang pointed that out.

"The spiritual world is usually invisible to normal humans. Only ones with sufficient spiritual pressure can see spirits and even fewer can interact with said spirits. I have seen them before..." Ichigo offered, hesitant to offer anymore information. His memories of meeting Rukia for the first time and becoming a Soul Reaper for the first time replaying through his head as a morbid film where all the actors except one were now dead.

"What do you mean by spiritual pressure and energy? And can Faunus see these hollows as well?" Blake asked with a raised brow. She thought he was talking about Aura. Which, if he was then more than likely a large portion of the population should have been able to see these hollows. It seemed like maybe he really was insane.

"Well to answer your first question spiritual pressure is like the reservoir of spirit energy a soul contains. Spirit energy is the energy used by spiritual beings to create attacks or protect themselves." Ichigo struggling to describe a concept that he had never really been taught before. He had learned what he needed to fight, textbook definitions wouldn't help him in a fight as far as he knew so he hadn't learned those things.

Blake raised a hand emitting a wave of black energy from a fist. This caused Ichigo's eyes to widen in surprise as the other girls repeated the performance with crimson red surrounding Ruby's and a fiery orange and yellow rising from Yang's fist. They were manipulating spirit energy and he hadn't noticed it at all yesterday. He must have been really out of it not to notice before and now he wasn't sure what to say. He was just as confused as the girl's seemed to be when he first spoke of hollows. This wasn't the world he had been in before he woke up a week ago. His memories were shady after their arrival to the Soul Palace. Likely because anytime he began to think about it he remembered the end of his life as far as he was concerned.

"I... I..." Ichigo stuttered staring at their fists his eyes fading off into his thoughts the girls silently watching before a few tears ran down his cheeks. They dropped their fists and watched as the boy's eyes suddenly refocus with a startled look.

"WHERE ARE THEY!?" he shouted looking around the bed. He was distraught as he dug through the blankets before jumping out of the bed stumbling as he stood, still weak from pushing himself too hard only half a day before.

"What are you looking for?" Yang asked looking around the room for something that stood out. Ruby and Blake joined in glancing around the room.

"THE ONLY THINGS I HAVE LEFT OF MY FRIENDS!" Ichigo screamed as he ripped the IV out of his arm blood dripping at a steady pace from his arm as his heart raced. The heart monitor flat-lining as the sensor came of his finger. He threw the machine at the window launching it through the glass and into the hall. The girls stepped away from him in surprise and fear. His eyes fell onto the small box that now rested on the floor, knocked off the nightstand in his fury. He fell to his knees picking the box up slowly. He opened the box revealing its contents. His body visibily relaxed before he collapsed into unconsciousness holding the box closely to his chest.

Doctors and nurses raced towards the room stopping in the hallway staring at the now broken monitor and shattered glass. They turned questioningly to the girls only for Yang to point at one nurse and wave the rest away a burst of her aura threatening them to argue. The one nurse carefully stepped pass the glass and entered the room. She gasped seeing the boy they were supposed to be treating bleeding all over the place and laying unconscious. Yang bent down quickly picking Ichigo up and placing him back in the bed. She made sure to leave the small box in his hands where he could find it quickly upon awakening. The nurse quickly bandaged the where the IV was ripped free before moving to the other side to administer a new IV.

"I'm just going to administer some sedatives and painkillers to keep him relaxed." the nurse said to the group. She went to put the medication in his IV stopping when Yang grabbed her hand.

"Please don't. We pushed him too hard. He was upset and then he realized those things were missing. They must be very important... they belonged to friends that are most likely... dead." Yang said with tears in her eyes. The nurse nodded setting aside most of the medication only grabbing the one that Yang recognized as the painkillers they used the night before.

"Thanks. Ruby, Blake." Yang started getting her partner and sister's attention. "Go to Professor Ozpin or Professor Goodwitch. They should already know about this. Just in case, let them know Ichigo woke up. I will stay and keep Ichigo company until he wakes up again." Yang asked calmly trying to suppress the rage she felt with herself. It was so easy to become angry being a necessary component of her Semblance.

"O-of C-course Yang. Are you sure you don't want someone... never mind" Ruby answered offering only brief resistance at leaving her sister alone until her lilac eyes flashed crimson at the suppressed rage slipping for just a second.

"Yang, don't be too angry with yourself. We are all to blame. It was evident that Ichigo has been through a lot but we all pushed him for answers even before we gave him our names. It was only naturally to question him with some things he said." Blake offered with a small pat on the shoulder in understanding. Yang was alone a few seconds later when the nurse offered a small bow before stepping out once again cautiously stepping by the broken glass.

"I should have waited. You didn't see the emptiness I did when I looked into his eyes. He has given up really living his life." Yang whispered as she looked back towards the orange haired teen now drifting from unconsciousness into true sleep. She grabbed her chair, still knocked over from when she woke up, that now lay by the door. It had been moved in the fit of rage Ichigo had shown.

Yang sat quietly next to Ichigo's side taking his hand in hers and giving it a reassuring squeeze. She had decided now that she wouldn't leave the boy's side until he found something worth living for again. She didn't want to think about someone around her age already so broken that he was only his stubborn pride away from killing himself. Pride could only last so long for someone in that position, she had to think. She would watch him and be the friend he so desperately needed. She would wait until he was ready to talk and offer what ever advice she could.

It felt like hours that she stared silently at Ichigo as he slept in peace. The sun had risen and the glow of day light flooded the room. She didn't dare get up and leave his side so the light would stay until a nurse came by and closed the curtains. She continued to hold his hand tightly. Occasionally she allowed her fingers to trace small designs on the back of his hand, the faint glow of her aura dancing at the tips without her even realizing she used it. It was this scene that Glynda and Ozpin arrived to silently observing the young woman as she tended the still recovering boy.

Glynda reconstructed the window using her powers, drawing a look from Yang. She glared at the interruption her aura flickering in fiery fury. A simple warning message before she returned her eyes to Ichigo. Glynda raised an eyebrow in surprise from the boldness one of her new students was displaying. Usually they cowered subconsciously from her strict and imposing appearance. Ozpin chuckled before taking a sip of his coffee moving around the broken monitor that Glynda soon moved out of the way with a small flip of her crop. He opened the door as quietly as possible entering the room before raising a hand to tell Glynda to wait. Glynda sighed as she pulled her scroll out to begin making observations of her combat duel class that another professor was covering for her.

"Ms. Long, I believe this is the first time we are meeting face to face like this. I wish it was under better circumstances." Ozpin offered with sincerity drawing only a small snort from Yang.

"Yeah, me too. I'm going to give you fair warning that I am not going anywhere without Ichigo. It'll take an army to pull me away. He saved my sister and it's my turn to save him." Yang stated bluntly allowing no room for compromise or discussion.

"Oh dear girl, I hadn't even considered the thought." Ozpin replied drawing a quick glance from Yang before she refocused her attention to Ichigo's hand.

"Good. So is there anything I can help you with because I don't know if Ichigo is going to wake up anytime soon. He is still recovering." Yang asked flippantly. Even though she had asked Ruby and Blake to find Ozpin and Goodwitch she couldn't help but regret their presence now.

"I came by to offer you a proposal that depending on the rest of your team may have an effect on your living arrangements." Ozpin said with grin as the girl's head spun faster than he could blink and her focus was entirely on him.

"Our living arrangements? Are you separating our team already? What happened with Weiss was a misunderstanding." Yang immediately countered.

"No, No. I meant that I was considering adding a fifth member to your team. It depends on your team's decision as well because these are extenuating circumstances that I don't want to force this on anyone. I want Ichigo to join RWBY. He has the potential to be an amazing hunter." Ozpin explained drawing wide eyes from Yang.

"Really! I mean his abilities seem interesting but how can you be so sure about his potential?" Yang asked curious at why the headmaster was making such an unusual decision.

"Did you not look at his medical charts?" Ozpin asked handing her the clipboard hanging from the end of the bed.

"It's personal... I shouldn't..." Yang looked back to Ichigo's sleeping face.

"Just look at his aura levels." Ozpin offered causing the girl to flip quickly to the page that was familiar to all potential hunters and huntresses. Aura levels were regularly assessed to monitor the growth of all trainees. The chart would show the current level at the time of the test, current max aura level and comparisons to other similar aura levels including percentile ranking amongst other at the same age, same grade, and same school.

She nearly dropped the chart when she viewed his aura level reading at the time of the test was only one percent. The level was only a scaled percentage based on a person's own max reading with zero being dead and one hundred being a healthy, fully rested and nourished individual. He had been so close to death when that test had been taken that it was frightening. The next section had her nearly hyperventilating as she stared wide eyed at the paper. His max aura level was as high as the testing equipment could record and his percentile ratings were ninety-nine percent across the board.

"It didn't matter what age they used for reference because no one has ever had an aura that powerful. He likely exceeded the maximum level the equipment could record because it stopped at the upper limit. How he doesn't burn up his body with this much energy is the one of many questions our doctors have. I venture to say that his experiences are not normal. This resulted in such an abnormal case and allows his body to maintain such a powerful aura. I think with time he can become the greatest hunter in history and may even be able to change the tide of our war against the Grimm. If he could pass on even a little of the training that got him to the point he is at now then think how much more effective our future hunters and huntresses would be." Ozpin explained getting excited as he further talked. The idea that humanity could finally break free of its stalemate with the Grimm was too much to stay calm even for his usually blank composure.

Yang stared blankly at Ozpin barely moved by his words. "So, what do you want from me? Manipulate him into becoming a hunter? Figure out his secrets so you can use them? I'm sorry I can't do that. I look at him and just see so much pain. You can just shove it if you want me to just fuck with his life. I will burn this place to the ground before I do that." Yang replied rising to stand between Ozpin and Ichigo, her aura now burning brightly as her crimson eyes glared at Ozpin.

"Just be his friend and support him is all I desire. I think you are doing a fine job of that now. Thought you should know about my offer first. I assume you agree to my arrangement. Let Ichigo know about my offer, please. He doesn't have to accept right away to become a student. If he wants to observe classes and think about his decision then all the better." Ozpin said sipping from his coffee once more, Yang's aura fading away before she nods. Not speaking any further she returned to her seat and again took Ichigo's hand into hers silently watching the sleeping teen.

Ozpin stepped out just as quietly as he entered. He found Glynda's eyes burrowing holes though him obviously not agreeing with his decisions. She had been able to see and feel the teens reactions and found Ozpin's lack of response to such overt threats an acceptance of such disobedience.

"Glynda, you know quite a bit about Yang Xiao Long. She is a bundle of rage contained in the shell of a teenage girl. As long as she isn't punching things I think we can say she is in control and not in need of punishment. I got the answers I wanted especially after watching that camera footage." Ozpin said walking down the hallway away from his right hand.

"But do you think this is the best course? What if he isn't what you think he is?" Glynda questioned only for Ozpin to pause for just a second to answer.

"He can use the powers of Grimm. He may finally be the key to defeating the Grimm once and for all." Ozpin answered resuming his walk away as Glynda stared at her scroll. For less than half a second Ichigo's aura had flared while he threw the monitor. It had happened so quickly that the human eye couldn't see it. Going through the footage frame by frame revealed a startling discovery. Something had formed on Ichigo's face in his rage filled tirade. A mask of white with two crimson stripes running vertically down was clearly visible with yellow eyes peering through the mask.

I want to thank all the follows and favorites I received in the past two days. I am honestly surprised by the level of interest. I want to take a moment to thank all those that reviewed.

Many are already asking the specifics about Ichigo's powers and the point in time in Bleach we are talking about before his arrival to Remnant. I think I covered most of that in this chapter. Ichigo faced Juha Bach at the Soul Palace but doesn't remember anything really other than the deaths. He currently doesn't have access to his Soul Reaper powers for several reasons one of them integral to the plot of my story. He does still have access to hollow powers as that hasn't been confirmed or denied in canon at this point. Instead I like to think that Zangetsu, both spirits, will support him now that an understanding has been reached and that if he needs to use his hollow powers they will be there. That is about the only hint I will be giving in regards to my plot.

Some of you may already be figuring out my future plot line so I beg you not to post in the reviews any theories that may ruin the build up for others as they figure it out for themselves. Instead if you really can't wait to find out if you figured it out message me privately and I will let you know if you figured it out.

Please continue to enjoy. Reviews are appreciated and motivated me to stay up late tonight after work to get this chapter completed.

Any errors that I have missed being brought to my attention will be greatly appreciated. I try to review a few times before posting but my eyes tend to see what I meant to write and not what is actually written.


	4. Chapter 4: Curiosity and the Cat

I don't own Bleach or RWBY.

I am still looking for someone to Beta this story. It's nice to have someone hold you accountable if a chapter just isn't up to par.

I made some revisions to my first three chapters. I wasn't 100% satisfied with things and wanted to change some things to build up this chapter better. This is a Blake heavy chapter and full of dialog. I'm thinking after next chapter I can get into more action and some changes of scenery. A boring hospital room is bland and leaves not much besides character reaction to describe. If anyone has suggestions on improving my dialog I would love to hear them. Thanks.

Next chapter will be the real introduction of Weiss and Ichigo. I expect to take some serious time in writing that chapter. Weiss is... difficult. Those are her words not mine.

Chapter 4: Curiosity and the Cat

Blake Belladonna was irritable when it was finally lunchtime. Her day so far had been one annoying interview after another from doctor's at the infirmary to the headmaster to Mrs. Goodwitch and finally the last was Dr. Oobleck, Professor of History at Beacon Academy. His interview had been the most annoying of all. He had heard about the power's Ichigo had shown and began asking about every detail Blake could remember. Once he had that information, which he noted on occasion in a small notebook he pressed her for anything of interest he might have mentioned. That was when Blake mentioned that she talked to him that very morning and he had mentioned something about Hollows and Spirit Energy. Oobleck disappeared, in a flurry of papers. He returned with a positively ancient book that he held open as he wrote down everything she had heard the teen say in his notebook. Oobleck didn't move or even reply for some time after she finished speaking only nodding and humming in interest repeatedly. He finally dismissed her after about five minutes stating that he hadn't realized she was still there.

She was dismissed for the rest of the day along with the other first year students. She was cutting across the school's courtyard trying to get to the infirmary building. It was just a plain brick building with windows giving it a utilitarian image. The building may have looked unimpressive but the equipment inside was state of the art. Nothing but the very best for the best future hunters and huntresses. Blake only hoped that this would be the only reason she ever had to come here. The antiseptics used in the building were incredibly potent smelling and burned her nose uncomfortably. She constantly felt on the verge of sneezing while inside causing her to be tense. She had apologized to Weiss first thing in the morning and in turn she had apologized to Blake. The situation last night was just a result of exhaustion, stress, worry, and in Blake's case really bothersome smells. It was one of the few times she wished she didn't have the heightened senses being a Faunus gave her.

She entered the infirmary and grimaced as the smell surrounded her again. This time it made her nauseous causing her to gag a little. She reached the front desk and found masks reserved for sick patients to wear to help mitigate the spread of illnesses. She quickly donned one in a partially successful attempt to block the smell. While the smell was still present, it was greatly reduced and became bearable for her poor nose. A nurse arrived to the desk giving Blake a brief glance before handing her a clipboard with papers to fill out. A quick glance showed it was check in forms.

"Oh, no. I'm not ill. I am just here to visit and was trying to check in. The mask is just … a precaution." Blake said trying to keep the real reason under wraps in case it revealed she was a Faunus.

"I'm sorry." the nurse replied grabbing the clipboard back before pushing a book with a pen towards Blake. "Sign in here and..." she paused before placing an ID card on top of the book. "wear this while moving around so we know you're allowed here."

Blake scribbled her name hastily before snatching the ID card and clipping it to her vest. Blake moved down the halls without waiting to be told where she needed to go. She could still remember how to get to the room she wanted to go. Less than a minute she stood outside his room and found herself oddly nervous about coming. She was sent by Ruby to get Yang out of the room for lunch. Ruby insisted that Yang eat lunch with her since she was pretty sure Yang hadn't left to get breakfast. Getting Yang to leave would be difficult and she might refuse to leave Ichigo alone if he was still unconscious. That meant there was a chance he could wake up with only her in the room. Something about him made her incredibly nervous. It was like he could see into your soul with his eyes and with all the weird things he had said that didn't seem like a good thing right now. Blake didn't trust him. He was holding something back and she knew it. 

Blake gave the door a gentle knock as the curtains to the hallway window were closing preventing Yang from knowing anyone was outside. After waiting a couple seconds she entered the room and blinked as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the room. The outside window curtains were closed and only a single small light over a sink in the corner of the room gave illumination to the entire room. Ichigo was still sleeping in his bed appearing to be in a shallow sleep. A chair sat empty on the right side of his bed and a glance around placed Yang in the recliner in the corner. She had it tilted back and was snoring softly. The poor sleeping conditions of the night before plus the stress had taken its toll on the usually energy filled blond.

Blake closed the door and sniffed the air cautiously as she moved further in the room. The burning antiseptic smell wasn't even noticeable with the mask and some other smells were blocked too much by the mask to ascertain. She peeled the mask off and could instantly smell three things that overpowered the antiseptics. First was the iron smell of blood that lingered. Obviously a nurse had cleaned up the small amount of blood that had made it to the floor earlier that morning but Blake could still see some stains on the bed and his gown. The second smell was the natural odor of Ichigo himself. It was more potent than the previous night after sweating from the fever and his fit of rage that morning it had turned into musky smell that wasn't unpleasant, yet, but did fill the room. Third was the smell of flowers from her partner's mane of hair. She had smelled it before and found it to be a wholly enjoyable scent that she had no problem with at all. Hell the night before she when they first got here she had tried to stay closer to that amazing smell to block the awful burning scent of the infirmary. She tossed the mask in the trash with a smile before her eyes locked on her partner's slumbering form.

Blake stalked across the room keeping her footsteps quiet as she made her way to Yang's side. She chuckled a little as she noticed a bit of drool hanging off the corner of her chin. It was too much not to take a quick picture with her scroll. Done collecting the incriminating evidence she moved closer to wake her partner.

"Hey... Yang, wake up." Blake whispered softly only to receive a small groan and head turn from the napping girl. Blake was not easily dissuaded as she nudged Yang's shoulder getting a small swing of her hand in reply.

"Not now... five more minutes... the presents can wait five more minutes Ruby..." Yang muttered before curling up trying to make herself disappear in a vain attempt at being left alone.

"Oh come on... it's not even..." Blake growled before moving to the arm of the recliner. "Get up." she hissed vehemently as she slammed the arm the opposite direction causing the chair to change to an upright position tossing Yang out of the chair. She woke up finally, sprawled out across the floor and to Blake's relief, without waking Ichigo.

"Oh... HEY BLAKE!" Yang said hoping up before her partner covered her mouth quickly.

"Shhhh... he is still sleeping." Blake hissed as she peered around Yang's shoulder while Yang glanced sheepishly behind her to check on the orange haired teen. Eyes still closed and steady, even breathing told her they were still in the clear.

"What are you doing here? I figured you'd be busy. Ozpin said he had to talk to Ruby, Weiss and you about some plan of his." Yang inquired as Blake's face grimaced. "Bad day?"

"Yeah we were harassed all morning by people about him and then Ozpin made his offer. Ruby is still trying to convince Weiss to give him a chance. I don't know if that's going to work." Blake shrugged but couldn't keep from gasping when Yang enveloped her smaller frame in a tight hug.

"You said yes. I was so worried that all of you would say no. Ichigo needs our help." Yang said turning to stare at Ichigo before continuing. "I intend on helping him."

"Why? You don't know him." Blake asked for the sake of argument. Yang stared silently as she subconsciously wrapped her arms around herself.

"He has seen so much pain and death. I know you saw some scars... but it's the ones we can't see that I worry about. I know what even one death can make you do but this... it scares me." Yang replied.

"Then we help. I just hope he isn't as stubborn as you." Blake teased getting Yang to relax a little and refocus on her partner.

"What do you mean by that? I am absolutely not stubborn." Yang debated drawing a smile from Blake.

"Not according to your sister. We had to learn more about our teammate somehow." Blake replied smugly as Yang's eyes narrowed.

"Whatever she said... lies... all of it... lies." Yang growled.

"Oh like you snore? Or drool?" Blake provoked her partner getting a twitching eyebrow as a reaction.

"Exactly like that. I don't drool." Yang said indignantly turning her head away from her partner. Blake smiled pulling her scroll out flipping to the recently acquired evidence to the contrary.

"I believe this picture says differently." Blake said holding up her evidence. Yang's head turned slowly before her eyes locked with the proof.

"Delete that... you evil ninja woman." Yang growled as Blake grinned in return.

"You were sleeping like rock. I'll delete, but you have to do something for me." She offered drawing a sigh from her partner.

"Really extortion? I expected better from my partner. What do you want?" Yang replied reluctantly, looking anywhere but at her comrade.

"Go eat lunch with your sister and Weiss. I'll look after Ichigo. He is sleeping after all." Blake said, getting nothing but an angry stare as her answer.

"Fine but that picture better be gone when I get back." Yang answered before moving to Ichigo's side.

"I'll be right back so you better not wake up, you pain in the ass." Yang ordered his sleeping form before stepping to the door. She paused briefly to level an even stare at Blake. "Keep him from doing anything else stupid, if he wakes up don't let him move... it'll hurt. A lot."

Yang then opened the door enough to step out shutting it silently behind her. Blake stared at the door for a few seconds before moving to the chair by Ichigo's side. She watched him closely, her amber eyes taking in his form carefully. His lower arms visibly in the short sleeved gown showed bruises from minor muscle tears. His breathing while steady was shallower than normal for a sleeping person. This meant either he was awake and faking it or he was having some difficulty breathing. A closer observation of him revealed he was indeed asleep so Blake pushed the call button by his bed.

A few minutes passed, silence reigning in the room. The door open and the main light was flicked on causing Blake to squint at the harsh white light. The nurse entered the room and seeing the still sleeping patient moved to his visitor.

"What's wrong?" the nurse asked impatiently.

"His breathing is labored." Blake replied choosing to ignore the nurse's rude response.

"Yeah well that will happen when you act like an idiot. Kid should have known better than to overuse his aura like that." The nurse scoffed getting a frown from Blake.

"He only used it to save someone's life." Blake countered as the nurse picked up a syringe and bottle from a tray sitting by the bed.

"Sure but to let himself get in this bad of shape. He either had a death wish or he is an idiot." The nurse grumbled injecting the painkiller into his IV.

"Are you serious? You call yourself a nurse but treat a patient with such disdain. You have no idea what he's been through. Yet you judge him without even knowing him." Blake challenged the nurse loudly. The nurse didn't reply as she turned and left the room closing the door loudly behind her and startling Ichigo from his sleep.

"What the... OW... sonofa..." Ichigo grumbled as Blake made her way to check on him. She was still pissed at the nurse's attitude but now she had more important things to worry about. Unfortunately Ichigo was a lot more observant than most people, discovering the reason she usually tried to keep an emotionless facade.

"Hey your bow is twitching again..." Ichigo pointed out as Blake was reaching out to help him. She froze and stared wide eyed at Ichigo. Her pale skin became almost white as the blood drained from her cheeks. "I guess I wasn't supposed to notice." Ichigo mused.

"Let me help get you comfortable." Blake replied unfreezing as she pretended he didn't say anything. Ichigo was soon sitting upright after a few minutes of careful movements and adjusting his pillows. Blake took a seat next to him in Yang's chair allowing her to watch him carefully as he grimaced as he shifted his weight into a less painful position.

"Can I get you anything or do anything for you?" Blake asked playing nervously with her hands as she spoke. Ichigo, finally comfortable, smiled back calmly.

"Relax, I have had much worse." Ichigo chuckled only to get a serious frown from Blake.

"Right... not funny." Ichigo replied having the common sense to show a little shame "Look, I'm fine. I'm alive and I have nice people that barely know me keeping an eye on me. What more could I ask for?" Ichigo asked his hands played over the box containing the only possessions he had left.

Blake nodded stopping her hands from moving and taking a deep breath. She had questions she wanted answers to and now was the time. No one to interrupt and nothing to get in the way.

"Ichigo... earlier we may have pushed you a little too hard. My teammates trust you but I... I can't without more answers. Things about you bother me and I need to know if I can trust you." Blake said getting a thoughtful look back from Ichigo before he nodded.

"Why did you save Ruby?"

"Like I said before I can't stand by and let someone get hurt or killed without doing everything I can." Ichigo answered getting a head shake from Blake.

"Why can't you? You don't know us? We could have been a threat." Blake pushed getting a frown from Ichigo.

"She is a child and you aren't much older. My name means Number One Protector. What kind of protector would I be if I left a young girl to die?" Ichigo asked getting a nod from Blake this time.

"What caused all those scars?" Blake asked gesturing to his chest. Ichigo paled a little before taking a deep breath.

"There was a war..." Ichigo half-answered.

"Why do you have that brand on your chest?" Blake asked getting an odd look from Ichigo before he answered. That look was dark and cold causing Blake to shiver just a bit.

"It was used by my enemies. I was... detained for some time." Ichigo frowned his eyes becoming empty.

"Sorry. I just have one more question. In time, I'm sure everything else can be worked out. What are your feelings on the Faunus?" Blake asked highly anxious about his answer. She kept it under wraps as she just thought about taking deep steady breaths.

"What is a Faunus?" Ichigo asked bluntly causing Blake to nearly collapse in shock and disbelief.

"What do you mean, 'What is a Faunus?'." Blake retorted getting a blank look from Ichigo.

"Never heard of it. No Faunus where I came from?" Ichigo replied. Blake stared at him trying to find any deceit in his words. She found none and the thought actually caused her to relax.

"The Faunus are a race of people. They look identical to humans in every way except they have an extra animal like appendage. For instance, a tail or an extra set of animal ears." Blake answered getting a curious look from Ichigo before he shrugged.

"I would say that they are probably just like humans when it comes to what matters. They have fears, aspirations, successes and failures just like anyone else. A person's appearance doesn't make a damn bit of difference in the kind of person they can be. I'm sure someone says 'Look at their ears. They must be an animal.' but does that make it true? The only way that becomes true is when the person then acts like an animal only to confirm the person's words." Ichigo said drawing a wide-eyed look from Blake. She hadn't known what to expect but what Ichigo said hit a little closer to home than she would have liked. She had at one time become the animal that humanity wanted to see when they looked at a Faunus.

"But I'm guessing you know about that more than I would. Right Blake?" Ichigo questioned pulling her from her thoughts.

"What d... do... you mean?" Blake stuttered getting up from her chair slowly. She couldn't keep her eyes from scanning the room for danger, ironically just like an animal backed in a corner.

"Please... sit back down. I'm stuck in a bed unable to move let alone chase after you or hurt you." Ichigo reassured her as she slowly sank back into the seat.

"I... I'm human. I'm not a Faunus." Blake said drawing a sigh from Ichigo.

"You aren't going to fool me. Why would you ask about Faunus to know if I could be trusted? None of the other girls have tails and they definitely don't have extra ears. You on the other hand have an oddly moving bow in the center of your head." Ichigo said giving Blake a smile. Blake bowed her head and small drops fell to the ground.

"Fine... you're right. I am Faunus... Okay. No one can find out." Blake whispered just loud enough for Ichigo.

"Take the bow off and talk to me. My turn to ask some questions, neh?" Ichigo pushed getting the girl to nod slowly. She reached up to the bow, carefully pulling on the smaller yellow ribbon that released the bow. As it fell away two distinct cat ears became visible bent forward and flat showing her fear and anxiety. Ichigo stared silently for a few seconds before he began to chuckle.

"I have no idea why you would want to hide those. They are so cute..." Ichigo said getting Blake to blush faintly as her ears sprung up from happiness. The hair on them was a dark violet causing Ichigo to smile a wistful look on his face.

"Really?" Blake whispered.

"Not gonna lie. They remind me of someone I used to know... she had hair almost the same color and the oddest ability. She could transform from a person into a talking cat." Ichigo shared getting a small gasp from Blake.

"You're lying. No one could do that!" She argued getting a chuckle from Ichigo.

"No she definitely could and she would always be naked when she went back to being a human. Would embarrass the heck out of me. She was always teasing me." Ichigo added as his cheeks reddened thinking back.

"What is the pervert's name?" Blake asked curiously unable to keep the disgust with Yoruichi's actions contained.

"Her name was Yoruichi Shihouin. A friend and mentor. And just another person on a very long list of those I failed to protect." Ichigo replied sadly looking down at the box in his hands. Blake stood up while he wasn't paying attention and hugged him. The teen tensed causing a small hiss of pain before he finally relaxed.

"Ichigo, you are just one person. Now you have people that can help you." Blake uttered softly in his ear. Despite the pain Ichigo pulled free of Blake's hug.

"NO. You can't get involved with me. People die because of me. It's better if you just leave. Maybe I'll just disappear if the world forgets I even existed." Ichigo mused sadly. Blake felt her heart drop when she heard his tone.

Blake sat on the edge of his bed and grabbed his hands looking at the box in them. "What happened?" Blake asked carefully gesturing to the box. She looked into his eyes and watched tears form and slowly fall down his cheeks.

"I don't remember... There is so much... time I just... don't remember anything about. I'm terrible for forgetting." Ichigo choked out causing Blake to squeeze one hand softly.

"No you're not. It's obvious there is a lot you're forgetting. This happens when the pain becomes too much for us to live." Blake replied the sound of experience in her voice. Ichigo's brown eyes locked with her amber ones.

"Why am I the one who made it while everyone else died? I should have died so many times but somehow I made it." Ichigo asked the emptiness he felt inside filling his eyes.

"You survive for them not instead of them. They left part of themselves with you. They believed you could make things better. You were their hope. How can you face them after they see you like this?" Blake asked.

"I won't have to face them. The way they died thoroughly prevents that from happening." Ichigo replied viciously.

"Well you face them every day within yourself. Those things you have represented them, didn't they?" Blake questioned, getting a small nod from Ichigo.

"They are with you inside that box. They didn't leave those things for you to look at and regret the things you couldn't control. They left those so you could move on with them and face the world together as one." Blake said sagely.

"That's pretty deep." Ichigo replied drawing a small blush from Blake.

"It's actually from a book. And before you ask, I'll never tell you what book." Blake replied her whole face red blushing in embarrassment. Ichigo nodded as a new look came into his eyes. Blake swore she saw his eyes glow in determination before he opened the box.

First he pulled out the pentagon badge with the skull setting it aside. He next pulled out the hair clips giving each a soft kiss before setting them aside. He picked up the medallion staring long at it before giving it a ridiculous looking thumbs up. The last thing he pulled out caused Blake to choke and pull away but still remain within arm's reach. Ichigo didn't notice her reaction at first as he focused on it. The small bracelet dangled from his finger tips as he stared at the pentacle dangling off of it. He stared intently at it before a sigh came free.

"The idiot ran off to avenge his mother. He tried to infiltrate the enemy and assassinate the leader but he didn't understand what he was doing and made a mistake. He always prided himself in being intelligent and rational but in the end he was a kid that just missed his mother... just like me. Both of our mother's killed by the same man." Ichigo said staring at the small cross.

"Your friend was a Quincy?" Blake asked disgust still in her voice, causing Ichigo to drop the cross. His head turned slowly towards her disbelief in his eyes.  
>"What did you just say?" Ichigo hissed hoping beyond hope she hadn't said what she did.<p>

"You said that belonged to your friend. You were friends with a Quincy?" Blake asked her eyes fearful and confused causing Ichigo to curse silently.

"That's the word I thought you said... so the Quincy are here too."

"Yeah, that's the name of the largest pro-human supremacy group in Remnant. They wear white and kill using bows and arrows, mostly." Blake responded with a shudder as Ichigo thought carefully on his response.

"I'm not sure they are exactly the same but... all the good Quincy that I knew of died during that war." Ichigo said placing the items back into the box.

"Trust me. There definitely isn't anything good about the Quincy now. They are practically at war with the White Fang." Blake mused getting Ichigo's attention.

"Who is the White Fang?"

"A Pro-Faunus group that started peacefully but in the last few years has resorted to more... violent and questionable actions." Blake answered truthfully. Her cat ears twitched nervously though which Ichigo didn't miss. "They definitely aren't as evil as people make them out to be."

"I suspect you had more personal dealings with them." Ichigo said causing Blake's ear to flatten against her head.

"Yeah... I made some mistakes. Did some things I wasn't proud of. I never killed anyone but my hands are still bloodied by my actions." Blake said staring at her hands. Ichigo grabbed them and held her small hands within his massive ones.

"There is so much blood on mine that they'll never get clean. It's the choices you make after, right?" He asked her, just as much for himself as for her. Blake smiled sadly but nodded.

"Of course. No one can find out about this. The White Fang are looked at horribly and I did somethings that aren't exactly legal." Blake said getting a nod from Ichigo. Blake pulled Ichigo in a hug relief flooding her with his understanding of her. He didn't judge or ask too many questions. He just assured her that what she chose to do now was what mattered. They held each other tightly for a few seconds. A small AWW sound came from behind them before the door flew open as two bodies fell to the ground in the middle of the floor. Red and black mixed with tan and gold laid in a mass of tangled limbs as Blake pulled away from Ichigo searching for her bow.

The two sister's untangled quickly before and hopped up. Ichigo stared at the two as Ruby shuffled around excited. Yang's face held a mix of emotions. She was the first to speak.

"Well, I guess the cat's out of the bag now!" Yang joked dropping an awful pun causing sweat to drop from Blake and Ichigo.

"YANG! That was AWFUL!" Ruby shouted at her sister covering her red face in shame.


	5. Chapter 5: Hibiscuses in White

I don't own Bleach or RWBY

Chapter 5: Hibiscuses in White

The two sister's stared as Blake scrambled to tie the bow back on her head. Yang watched as she struggled with the ribbon and her cat ears began to twitch in irritation, ironically making it more difficult. Yang stepped up to Blake reaching up to her head and helping her tie up the bow.

"I didn't need help." Blake replied sheepishly. She refused to make eye contact with the blond.

"Sure looked like it." Ichigo added getting an angry glare from Blake. "And I'm shutting up!" Ichigo added raising his hands just enough in mock surrender but as to not cause any pain.

"That's what I thought." Blake grumbled drawing giggles from Ruby.

"Oh come on Blake. Your kitty ears are ADORABLE... Why would you cover them up?" Ruby asked getting a sad look from Blake as Yang turned to give her sister a small glare. Ruby let out a small squeak and covered her mouth.

"Sorry..." Ruby said trying to look anywhere but at the recently discovered Faunus. Yang placed a hand on the cat faunus' shoulder forcing her to look her in the eyes.

"Blake, Ruby and I don't care that you are a Faunus. I won't lie and say we don't care about what you did in the past." Yang said pausing for a second as Blake became disheartened. "We care because if we don't know the mistakes you made then we can't help you deal with them, when you're ready to talk to any of us... we'll be here to listen. Right Ruby... Ichigo?" Yang asked looking to the two for backup.

"O-of course." Ruby stuttered her reply still very embarrassed for blurting out comments about something so personal.

"Sure." Ichigo replied getting an annoyed glance from Yang at the insensitive way he replied. She couldn't say anything else before the moment was interrupted.

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU GUYS TO WAIT FOR ME!" a girl's voice shouted from outside the room. The voice echoed loudly and caused the three girl's to glance around nervously.

"We've got to hide!" Ruby hissed crouching behind Ichigo's bed. Blake used her semblance to create a shadow clone that pushed her up into the corner of the ceiling above the door and Yang... she hid behind the door.

"Sorry Ichigo... Weiss is scary when she's mad..." Ruby whispered causing sweat to drop from his brow. He thinks back and briefly remembers this Weiss girl, she had assisted in the rescue of Ruby if memory served.

Ichigo looked to each of the girls in disbelief at their terrible hiding jobs. It would only take a person looking for a second to find them in the tiny room. The door slammed open causing Yang's visible fist to clench in Ichigo's line of sight. The girl that entered was wearing a white and blue dress, her white hair was tied of in an off-center pony tail with a small tiara at the base. She wore a rapier at her waist and her pale blue eyes scanned the room briefly before they locked on Ichigo. He couldn't help but smile at the glare she gave him. It reminded him a lot of Rukia's which immediately made him frown. Ichigo sighed softly as he shook away the bad thoughts that threatened to consume him again.

"Where. Are. They?" Weiss demanded stomping towards him with as heavy of footsteps as she could make. It did nothing to intimidate him instead he chuckled softly.

"What's so funny. I'll have you know I am Weiss Schnee and I can make your life very painful." She growled as Ichigo erupted into laughter causing the girl's eyebrow to twitch uncontrollably.

With the distraction provided by Ichigo, Blake dropped out of the corner, grabbing the top of the door frame and flipping silently out into the hallway landing on her feet. Ruby was next crawling around the corner of the bed before slipping out the door. Yang was last to make her escape pushing the door closed just enough to get clear. Her cheek displayed a small bruise from the door slamming into it causing Ichigo to laugh even harder as she flipped him the bird before stepping out of the room. Ichigo slowly regained his composure as Weiss grumbled about idiotic boys causing Ichigo to stop laughing and glare back at the tiny, bossy girl.

"Hey, you know you would probably get a better response if you weren't being such a bitch." Ichigo informed her getting a gasp and slap to the cheek as an answer.

"What did you call me?" Weiss shouted getting only steady glare back.

"Bitch. Egotistical. Annoying. Bossy. Bitch." Ichigo replied as the girl turned her back to him.

"I am not bossy! Why does everyone keep saying that?" Weiss asked no one as another drop of sweat fell from Ichigo's brow. Now she only seemed upset with being called bossy, not everything else he said. Weiss spun back around to level an annoyed look at him.

"You never answered my question! Where did my teammates go? I know they were in here." She interrogated.

"They made their escape while I was laughing. Quite funny actually. I think you hurt Yang with the door when you came in." Ichigo mused getting a steady gaze back from the white haired girl.

"The... door?" Weiss asked turning to look at the door. She noticed it was partially closed now instead of wide open and her eyes narrowed.

"She hid behind the door? What an idiot!" Weiss shouted getting ready to hunt down her teammates.

"Who is the bigger idiot? The one hiding behind the door or the one that didn't find her behind the door?" Ichigo teased getting the girl to stop in her tracks. She stopped back over and sat in the chair by his bed.

"Ummm... what are you doing?" Ichigo asked staring awkwardly at the small girl.

"I am not an idiot. I am the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company!" she said vehemently. Ichigo gave her a confused look trying to figure out what that had to do with anything.

"Ummm... So what? You can still be an idiot. And your parent's company collects dirt?" Ichigo asked getting a stunned look back from Weiss.

"I said Dust you fool. As in Nature's Wrath. The material we use for fuel, weapons, and magical attacks. Maybe you are as stupid as you look. I mean who has such ridiculous color hair?" Weiss gave Ichigo an assessing look as she spoke.

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched as he glared back at this nuisance. "Well, little girl, why don't you go back to daddy and get him to buy you pony. I need to rest." Ichigo growled before shutting his eyes. A whistling sound and smack caused Ichigo's eyes to open wide in pain as he the stinging sensation in his left leg traveled up to his brain.

"Oops, I slipped." Weiss jeered her hand still rest on the hilt of her rapier. She had slapped him with the side of the blade by the feeling.

"I'm sure you did. Aren't you going to go find your friends?" Ichigo asked trying to convince the irritating girl to leave.

"No... Ozpin told me I had to spend time with you before I made my decision." Weiss replied with a small huff. She examined Ichigo closely. The sleeves on the left side of his gown had rolled up revealing about half of his upper arm and his entire lower arm. The arm was bruised in various places from the micro tears it suffered from the damage his aura caused. It also was nothing but muscle, the muscles so tight beneath the skin that they appeared almost like steel cords but they weren't disgusting huge either. The boy must have almost zero body fat if his arm was anything to go by in Weiss' opinion.

"...okay. And what decision might that be?" Ichigo asked reluctantly after the girl had become silently staring at him. He traced her eyes to his arm which he quickly rolled the sleeve back down pulling Weiss from her thoughts.

"Decision... right. Headmaster Ozpin's offer for you to join Team RWBY while you attend Beacon. Until you have a team of your own I'm sure. I don't know if I want filthy, uncouth trash, such as yourself on my team. I already have enough issues with the rest of my team's... behavior." Weiss answered raising a finger to her lips tapping it there as she considered the teen in front of her.

Ichigo was sitting in stunned silence. What Weiss said made little sense to him. What could the man gain by having him attend the school was the thought that echoed around his brain. It was pretty obvious that the man would have to have something very large to gain by taking such an unnecessary risk. The man obviously wanted something and knew something either about Ichigo or his powers.

Ichigo couldn't deny a part of him liked the idea. He would get to spend more time around Blake, Yang, and Ruby but was that worth the risk to them? No, not if there was a chance the Quincy were here, where ever the hell here was. No, he would be gone as soon as he recovered. Judging by how he felt it was lucky he hadn't been through any surgical procedures. Given that he figured maybe a month and then he would disappear and find these "Quincy". They sounded like a group that needed to be stopped anyway so he would make that his new mission until he figured out a way back home and a way to stop Juha Bach once and for all. A sudden pinching pain on his arm interrupted his planning and drew him back to the world around him.

"Hey, don't ignore me. I asked you a question!" Weiss shouted.

"Sorry, what did you ask?" Ichigo said barely paying attention to the girl.

"Probably a place you've never heard of knowing my luck as of late." Ichigo replied coarsely getting a tilted head and interested look from Weiss.

"Karakura, a small town outside of Tokyo?" Ichigo offered getting a head shake from Weiss.

"Yeah I figured as much. Look I don't think it's a good idea for me to even go to this school. I am … dangerous. I highly doubt most of the students here could handle what I can do." Ichigo said getting a glare from Weiss.

"Says the idiot in a hospital bed after one encounter with a Deathstalker. I think you need a demonstration of our abilities. The more I hear you speak the more I think you need to join this academy just to put you in your place!" Weiss replied grabbing the remote to push the call button.

"I can barely move without being in pain. I don't think it's a good idea for me to walk around the school to see a demonstration." Ichigo said but Weiss would not be deterred. A different nurse from earlier walked in and greeted the two with a small bow.

"Can you please get a wheelchair? My friend here needs some fresh air." Weiss politely requested but her tone was more of a demand.

"Ms. Schnee, the doctors haven't cleared him..." the nurse argued getting an irritated scowl from the heiress.

"Nurse need I remind you what my name means?" Weiss asked getting a nervous head shake from the nurse.

"No, but without a doctor's clearance... I can't in good consc..." the nurse countered before Weiss interrupted.

"Then get a doctor's clearance. I am not taking him off the school's grounds. Just outside for a little demonstration and maybe dinner." Weiss said blushing slightly after saying the dinner part. Ichigo couldn't help an eyebrow from raising at the sudden red tint to her cheeks. The nurse nodded and bowed again before scurrying from the room.

"Best not go there..." Ichigo uttered too quiet for anyone to hear.

"What was that?" Weiss asked turning to the boy who choked audibly.

"Gaaack... uh nothing. Just talking to myself." Ichigo replied getting an eye roll from the white haired girl.

"Uh huh... weirdo..." she muttered looking away from the boy.

It didn't take as long as Ichigo had hoped before the nurse returned and unfortunately with a wheelchair. He had really hoped to stay in bed but the girl obviously had some real pull. Ichigo sighed as he slowly inched his way over towards the side of the bed but was stopped by Weiss.

"What do you think you're doing? You're hurt, you shouldn't be moving." Weiss questioned him causing him to stare incredulously at her.

"But you are..." Ichigo moved to speak but was stopped when Weiss turned her attention back to the nurse.  
>"Go get help so we can move him to the chair. Or did you expect him to just fly into it? Seriously it's so hard to find good help these days." Weiss complained as the girl ran back out of the room. Ichigo ponder the hypocritical nature of the girl beside him and couldn't resist the urge of scratching his head in confusion. The pain that came was a little surprising with such a small movement that he hissed loudly causing the girl to slap a hand to her forehead.<p>

"Really? You must be really stupid..." She sighed before the nurse and two rather intimidating and strong looking men entered. Before Ichigo could resist the two men had him in the chair with little to no pain and a surprised look left on Ichigo's face. He still held on to his box not wanting to lose any of those things by accident.

"Alright Ichigo. Time to see what us future hunters and huntresses can really do." Weiss exclaimed enthusiastically as she began to push his chair out of the room. Ichigo looked back, begging the nurse with his eyes not to let her take him only getting a mouthed 'I'm sorry' in response.

Ichigo was pushed through the empty hallways before they reached the entrance of the infirmary building. The nurse at the desk gave him a sad wave as he was taken out of the building which caused him only to sigh in defeat.

Outside the infirmary was a beautiful garden. The paving stone path out to the rest of the campus was split with a large fountain in the middle. Three large pillars of water shot up into the midday air, the individual drops falling away from the streams looked like crystal in the bright sunlight causing a small rainbow to form in their midst. Rose bushes in full bloom lined the path on either side. On the left side of the fountain a smaller path led into another section of the garden filled without flowering plants of bright yellows, purples, and reds. Several cherry blossom trees in full bloom with blossoms falling in the easy breeze caused Ichigo to relax despite his previous misgivings. If nothing else he got to see something that he had at one time given up never seeing again.

Weiss soon had him out the front gate of the infirmary and onto the main campus grounds. A large clock tower with glowing green lights sat in the center of the school and was likely the source of the school's name, Beacon. She pushed him towards a building offset from what he assumed was the main hall, the dorms, and the dining hall. The building was small, windowless and completely unimpressive compared to the architecture of the other buildings. A small sign in front became legible as they approached. 'COMBAT TRAINING CENTER' was printed largely on the engraved stone sign. Ichigo was honestly impressed with the campus. The students roamed around having normal everyday interactions only briefly pausing to look their way before continuing on with what they did. In the distance he swore he saw the red, yellow, and black of the three other members of team RWBY but he lost sight as soon as they made their way up the path to the front door of the combat center.

Weiss had remained silent allowing the boy to take in the impressive school on his own. She knew there wasn't any place that compared to the school besides her own family's estate but even she had been impressed by the school's appearance. Ichigo obviously need to learn about the impressiveness of the school she had worked, trained, studied, and bled to get accepted into. What better way than to let the school and it's students show him how impressive they really were.

Weiss pushed him through the front door and down the hall to an open combat simulation room. Training bots, Grimm and other students could be fought here during off hours to keep their skills sharp. Weiss hoped they had Grimm available to show Ichigo her skills against a real opponent. She left him by the door to an empty room entering it by herself. She turned on the computer and made the wall transparent to the hall she left him in. The wall was actually a glass designed to change from opaque to clear based on a small electrical charge. She turned on the small intercom that connected to another speaker just by the door.

"OK, Ichigo I am going to show you my significant skills now so you can see that even a newly arrived first year student is capable." Weiss said confidently into the intercom. Ichigo watched an uncomfortable tension rising in his chest. His instincts were screaming that something bad was about to happen. Weiss was being cocky and trying to show off... that rarely ended well.

"It's a school. They couldn't possibly put a student at that great of risk." Ichigo said to himself trying to quell the sinking feeling in his chest. He purposely ignored the fact that he had already had to risk himself to rescue another student. Weiss seemed to be staring at a computer screen that Ichigo could barely make out. After about a minute of playing through different messages a large red flash message appeared on the screen. Weiss tapped the message and the door loudly locked as if an incredibly large and strong lock was engaging. That was when Ichigo knew his instincts weren't wrong.

"GET OUT OF THERE WEISS!" Ichigo shouted pushing the talk button on his side. Her side now seemed to be tied to her voice as she was standing away from it but still responded.

"Don't worry. I can handle such a weak Grimm as a Beowolf. Just watch as I pick this thing apart with my Myrtenaster." Weiss replied pulling her rapier free from her belt.

"Please Weiss... I'm begging you. Stop this before it's too late. I believe you. Just don't do this." Ichigo said into the intercom only to be completely ignored. Inside the room several tiles began flashing red as the back slid up revealing two glowing red eyes in the shadows. Ichigo froze as he stared back into those eyes a part of him stirring at the sight. A howl filled the hallway as a large wolf like creature leaped out towards Weiss. She created a white glyph at her feet leaping high in the air over the wolf like Grimm. It slammed face first into the glass wall only inches from Ichigo's face. Drool coated the window as the creature howled staring at Ichigo before turning its focus back on to Weiss. The beast stood upright and was easily towering at 10 feet tall.

Weiss now standing behind the creature visibly paled when she took in the full size of the Beowolf before her. She hadn't expected one so old and obviously powerful to be in the combat center. She clicked the revolver portion of her rapier and activated several glyphs of black and purple around the Grimm. Waves of energy seemed to lock it in place freezing the beast as she then clicked back to white creating a glyph under her and then another behind her. The one under her launched her up to the other and soon she was flying at the Grimm, a confident smile on her face. Ichigo almost relaxed when he saw the power she used was similar to a binding kidou but when the glyphs seemed to rattle around the beast his worries came back in full. Weiss now locked in a charge was powerless to stop the beasts powerful arm and claws from slamming into her petite frame crashing her into the back wall that had returned to the down position when the Grimm had entered the room.

She was slow to rise as the remaining glyphs shattered around the Grimm. Ichigo tried to scream for Weiss to move but was frozen and gasps around him told him he wasn't alone in watching this tragic show. Several students had moved to the room when the howling Grimm had filled the center with its cries. Ichigo could hear them mutter about having never seen such a large Beowolf and how the room was locked down until the Grimm or the student was defeated. Ichigo stared silently as he watched Weiss raise her rapier in a desperate attempt to defend herself. The Grimm seemed to disappear and was on top of her faster than almost anyone could follow, Ichigo the exception. He had seen something similar to that move before but nowhere near it's level. When the Grimm used it the move for only a brief second Ichigo could feel the creature's Aura, as everyone seemed to call it. Grimm weren't supposed to have Aura which meant this wasn't a normal Grimm.

Weiss was slammed again by the creatures claws. This time blood splattered in the room as the hit surpassed the defense her Aura could offer if only just barely leaving to faint scratches on her left arm, rendering her sword arm useless. Her rapier clattered into a corner far from Weiss. He could see the terror in her eyes as she was helpless to stop the coming beast.

Looking back Ichigo couldn't remember when he had grabbed them but in his hands sat the two flower hairpins belonging to the girl he had only just acknowledged his feelings for before she was taken away from him forever. He prayed for a miracle as tears fell down his cheeks. If he hadn't been such an ass she might not have done this.

"WEISS!" Ichigo screamed as the beast lunged teeth first at the girls defenseless form. A flash of orange and shattering glass filled the hall. A sound almost like finger nails on a chalkboard revealed an orange, triangular shield between Weiss and the beast. She stared speechlessly at the shield as did the other students. In the center of the shield a point formed that launched out striking the beast in the forehead and splitting its head in two. The shield then disappeared as four blurs too fast to follow their unexpected movement as the corpse of the Grimm collapsed, smoke steadily rising from it. A second later a small orange bubble appeared above Weiss as her injuries seemed to disappear. Even her dress and jacket were repaired before this shield disappeared too. This time she was able to follow the blurs as they returned to Ichigo's hands. Ichigo's eyes were vacant as he collapsed out of the wheelchair onto the hard tiled floor and shattered glass.

"ICHIGO!" two girl's voices cried as Blake and Yang appeared beside the now unconscious teen. Yang checked his pulse finding it steady but very weak. She picked him up and quickly raced out of the building. Blake watched silently until Yang disappeared from the building before her focus turned to Weiss. She was lifting Weiss up before the white haired girl could even acknowledge she moved and was soon thrown up against a wall.

"Why did you bring him here? He should be in bed resting. You just couldn't resist showing off?" Blake growled in the girl's face. She said nothing and couldn't look Blake in the eyes. Blake went to slap her only for her hand to be stopped by another's.

"Ruby? Why?" Blake cried.

"Blake, stop... can't you see she is already beating herself up." Ruby said looking to Weiss for something.

"I'm sorry... I know I'm difficult. I worked so hard to get here and he just... he brushed it off so easily. He even defeated that Beowolf without even trying... and in his condition." Weiss said drawing a sympathetic look from Blake.

"I don't think that was him..." Ruby replied looking to box in her hand. Ichigo had dropped it and the two hair clips on top of the small stack of items inside. They still glowed just barely with an orange aura and a small voice called out from them.

"Tell Kurosaki-kun... we don't blame him. We are with him forever but this was all … " A female voice whispered its words fading to inaudible levels before the orange glow disappeared.

**A/N**

**I don't think Weiss is weak. I think this time she was sorely out of her element especially in their first week at the school. The next chapter will start with a short time skip as well, only a week. I will cut in interactions between Team RWBY to fill in the differences between this and canon, for instance Blake's reveal being earlier. Weiss was not easy for me to write and I hope it turned out well.**

**I added the training center despite it not being shown. I figured that this level of training was easily within the capability of the school. I find it hard to believe that a school training students in the art of killing Grimm would not have an area where they can fight actually Grimm. **

**A rare Grimm with some use of Aura... this will not become a regular occurrence. Instead think of it more as an anomaly. Something that Ichigo can't seem to ever escape from.**


	6. Chapter 6: Cookies, Coffee, & Friendship

I don't own Bleach or RWBY 

A special thank you to my new beta reader. Saddlebags. Check out his awesome story if you get the chance! It's titled "Bleach: Salvation".

THANK YOU! Everyone has been incredibly supportive in my endeavors with this story. I debated going into more depth with Ichigo and both Zangetsu. Instead I decided to show just glimpses before I clear some things up a little in the next chapter. Time to get the ball rolling into some real action on this story. Here is the last chapter of the weekend.

Chapter 6: Cookies, Coffee, and Friendship

Ichigo woke up to the sensation of sinking in ice cold water. He opened his eyes to the dark shadows of large skyscrapers floating past him as he sunk deeper into his inner world before gently landing on one of the buildings. Ichigo knew it wouldn't be a pretty sight when he returned here. Which was why he had put off coming altogether. It wasn't long before a kick to the back of his head had him sliding face first across the glass. He turned to confront his assailant but froze when it wasn't who he thought it would be. Instead of the hollow part of his zanpaktou spirit he stared into the cold eyes of the Quincy portion.

"Old man? Why?" Ichigo choked out in confusion.

"You are so easily broken... That's why the man, whose image I mirror, defeated you." Zangetsu scolded his young wielder. "Even now you allow the weight of deaths you couldn't prevent chain you down!" he shouted. Heavy black chains appeared wrapped around Ichigo. The weight forced Ichigo to his knees as he looked down at the ground to avoid eye contact with half of his zanpaktou.

A blade, pitch black, razor sharp appeared at his throat. The trench knife like blade making a small incision, allowing the vital red liquid to seep into the surrounding water. "Shall I end it for you now? Do you wish for death?" Zangetsu demanded causing Ichigo to look up at him.

"What's the point in living? I failed everyone! They died because I wasn't strong enough!" Ichigo shouted tears invisibly joining the water that surrounded him.

"We don't blame you..." a voice echoed across his inner world. Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise when he instantly recognized the voice.

"ORIHIME?!" Ichigo shouted. He looked around trying to find the source of the voice but to no avail.

"We are forever with you," her voice said fading away at the end.

"Orihime..." Ichigo cried into the cold water.

"Ichigo... do you wish to throw away the chance at life you have been given? Or will you live your life for all of them?" the old man asked Ichigo. The chains around Ichigo began to crack and fall away as a smile came to the old man's face.

"I see you have chosen. I am sorry, but now you will face the part of yourself that is actually angry," Old man Zangetsu muttered apologetically as a blur of black and white slammed into Ichigo.

-

One and half weeks. That was how long it had been now since Ichigo slipped into his coma. After the events at the Training Center Ichigo had fallen unconscious and nothing the doctors did could wake him. They monitored his brainwaves only to find they were at a level of someone conscious. So they waited, wondering what it would take to wake him. His bruises and the minor cuts had begun to heal as his Aura replenished. This seemed to be occurring at a much slower speed than the doctor's would have liked.

The first three days had not been easy for the members of Team RWBY, because Weiss had avoided the team. She came back to the room after they were asleep and left before they woke up. The girl's appearance had become ragged over the past three days of the week. The team finally confronted her after their final class on that Friday. Nobody really blamed her for what happened after they had time to cool down. It was obvious that Weiss blamed herself more than anyone else could.

"Weiss, we're going to unpack our things today!" Ruby said with fist pump.

"And clean..." Blake added pinching her nose to indicate how bad their room had gotten from neglect.

"Don't forget the decorating," Yang offered with a smile.

The three girls watched their fourth teammate silently stand in front of them with her head bowed. Her head suddenly shot up revealing bloodshot eyes with dark circles around them. Tears flowed steadily and her face was a looking a little thinner than earlier in the week.

"Why? Why don't you tell me to leave? Why don't you hate me?" Weiss sobbed. Her team suddenly surrounded her, trying to comfort the distressed girl.

"You may have been the reason he was there but... you didn't intend for that to happen. Even Ozpin said that a Grimm so strong should not have been in the training center. They still have it shut down while they investigate," Blake reasoned to the white haired girl.

"But... it's still my fault! Just hate me!" she screamed at them drawing the attention of the other students. Team JNPR stood not too far away watching their fellow team struggle, wanting to somehow ease their troubles.

Yang looked to the other two girls and they backed away. Yang stared deeply into Weiss' eyes before a small frown came to her lips. Suddenly, she punched the girl hard in the face sending her flying back into the class hitting the wall at the front of the class. The other two rushed in to check on her and help her up as Yang slowly walked up to Weiss. Weiss' aura protected her mostly from the powerful punch as only a small bruise formed on her cheek.

"Now we're even, Weiss Schnee. So stop this crap and rejoin your team. Or are you really just this weak girl that everyone thinks you are when they look at you?" Yang demanded getting a glare from Weiss.

"I am NOT WEAK!" Weiss shouted angrily.

"THEN STOP ACTING LIKE IT!" Yang shouted back causing the other girl to falter.

"You're right... I have been really pathetic. I need to do something... I'll meet you in the dorms in a few minutes," Weiss replied confidently as she strode out of the classroom a new look of determination in her eyes.

The rest of Team RWBY left the room to find JNPR looking confused at them. Nora darted between Blake then Yang and finally Ruby staring intently at each before rejoining her group. Ren sighed at the antic before Jaune spoke.

"Was that really necessary? We have all been worried about Weiss as well," He asked in concern.

"It wasn't that hard of a hit. She just needed a push," Yang said unapologetic for her actions.  
>"If you say so. Just let us know if we can do anything," Jaune offered getting a nod from Ruby.<p>

"Of course!" Ruby replied. The two groups began to head back to the dorms the tension gone as if a giant weight had been lifted from their shoulders.

-

They spent most of that weekend in town getting to know each other a little better. Ruby took the group to her favorite Dust shop which Weiss scoffed at until she saw the quality of the stock and the SDC logo on half of the merchandise.

"Well at least you have good taste in Dust. If only we could do something about all that black you wear," Weiss teased her team leader and partner.

"Hey, there is nothing wrong with black. It's a classic!" She shouted, holding up a magazine up to reveal two swords on the front page. One was large cleaver like weapon with a massive blade longer than the average person's torso, the center of the blade was hollow making it lighter yet still strong. The second blade was smaller at only about half the length of the other blade. This one has a closed off handle resembling an oversized trench-knife. Both blades grips were wrapped in a white tattered cloth fabric. "See even these swords are black and they're AWESOME!"

"Those are legendary swords... of course they look good in black," Weiss mused giving Ruby a teasing smirk.

"Hey, wait a second, Blake wears black too!" Ruby countered drawing giggles from the group.

"Blake doesn't count... she is like a ninja or something. They are supposed to wear black," Yang replied getting a huff from her little sister.

"Plus I pull it off so much better than you," Blake said posing just a little drawing wolf whistle from Yang. Blake immediately begins to blush, the rosy tint overtaking her cheeks as she ceased her pose.

"Yang! You're supposed to be on my side!" Ruby whined only getting more laughs from the group. "You guys are so mean!"

"Come on, I'll get you some cookies," Yang offered while messing up her sister's hair. Ruby huffed in annoyance but following her sister closely, not wanting to miss out on glorious reward of cookies.

Blake later took them to a coffee shop where she finally revealed her faunus nature to Weiss. Weiss was a little more than annoyed when she found out.

"Why lie and hide this from us?" she demanded looking to the other two teammates for support. She instead found them looking anywhere but at her.

"You knew as well? When? Why was I last to find out?" Weiss asked only to get an incredulous look from the rest of the team.

"Okay fine. I know I've been difficult this week but really. Why keep it a secret?" Weiss asked looking to Blake whose face was a mask of guilt.

"It all started when I was born..." Blake began as she described her life growing up to parents who were prominent members of the White Fang when it was a peaceful group. Weiss remained silent as Blake discussed how things began to change when she was only twelve and her parents had been killed by the Quincy.

"I'm sorry Blake. I said some things about the faunus before... you know my family has been the target of the White Fang for some time now... even if we do offer fair wages to our faunus workers many won't let us live down the fact that my family makes a fortune of the toils of faunus miners," Weiss said getting a questioning look from Blake.

"Fair wages? How much do you think your father pays his workers?" Blake demanded a little harshly.

"The same as human miners, of course, as is required by law of course," Weiss replied her tone becoming defensive.

"Wow... you really have no idea do you?" Blake asked getting a blank stare from Weiss.

"Sure they offer the same weekly salaries to the workers but Faunus are required to work double the hours of a human for the same job," Blake retorted getting a surprised look from Weiss.

"No, that can't be true..." Weiss replied.

"You thought you and your family were being targeted so harshly because you treated us as equals? Don't kid yourself," Blake spat causing Weiss to bow her head.

"I'm sorry, I had no idea..." Weiss replied getting a soft sigh from Blake in response.

"It's alright... you couldn't have known. Your father's company does a good job in covering it up," Blake replied. "So now I need to ask your forgiveness for things I didn't know..."

Weiss' head shot up as she looked to her teammate. "What do you mean by that?"

"I knew that White Fang was becoming more violent after the new leaders took over. I didn't know exactly what they were doing or rather I didn't want to see what they were doing. Not until I was on that train that was attacked in Forever Fall a few months ago..." Blake said drawing a gasp from Weiss.

"THAT... THAT WAS YOU!" Weiss shouted grabbing the girl's collar.

"I was part of a team with one other Faunus. The mission was to steal the Dust and then destroy the train. We disabled the drones and Adam ordered me to set the charges. That's when I asked about the people on board... Adam... he said 'What about them?'. I knew I couldn't... couldn't allow him to kill them. So that's when I decided I had to leave. At the first opportunity I cut the cargo cars carrying the Dust free leaving the passenger cars safe," Blake said in remorse to her teammates.

"Everyone wasn't safely on board the passenger section," Weiss replied softly releasing her hold on Blake. The team sat in stunned silence as she continued. "My sister... Winter... she barely made it off that train. She was in critical condition when they found her. She is still recovering now..."

"I had no idea... it was only supposed to be automated defenses on board that portion of the train, according to our intel anyway," Blake said drawing a scoff from Weiss.

"Of course, that's what we wanted you to think. Instead, we placed a security team on board as well. Your friend blew up most of the Dust and the train cars to escape. My sister was the only one on that team to survive," Weiss said solemnly.

"Are you with White Fang? Do you still talk to them? How can I trust you?" Weiss demanded as Yang and Ruby moved to defend Blake.

"Weiss!" they shouted together only for Blake to stop them.

"It's okay. It's fair to ask those questions. I can't give you any real guarantee only the offer to turn myself into authorities for the crimes I committed," Blake said sincerely getting surprised looks from Yang and Ruby.

"NO. Blake you can't..." Ruby started only for Weiss to interrupt her.

"I want you to swear, no more secrets. No more lies. If the White Fang tries to contact you then you will tell us and lastly..." Weiss reached up and untied Blake's bow. "No more bow."

Blake stared silently at her teammates as they smiled back at her. "Sure..." she replied as she couldn't keep the tears from flowing down her cheeks.

Except for that weekend, the girls spent every minute of approved visitation times in the room with Ichigo. They did what they would have done normally in their free time if they weren't with him. Ruby played music over a small speaker, singing songs with Yang, out of key of course, driving Weiss nuts with the horrible off pitch tunes. Blake chuckled as she read a book watching the three argue over what real music actually sounded like. Other days they played board games, like Remnant: the game. More often than not they studied for class quietly exchanging notes and helping each other with the various essays and assignments.

The time passed slowly as the second week at Beacon academy came to a close. The past few days had been tense for the team as they awaited the Ichigo's awakening. He had made their team stronger despite his short presence in their lives. On Wednesday a nurse had called saying that his condition had changed. When they arrived she informed them that his condition seemed to be worsening as his brainwaves were now at a much lower level. They could continue to visit but it seemed that Ichigo may need to get treatment from somewhere else. They continued to spend every minute of visitation time in his room pretending things were going to get better.

The group now stood outside his room to say their goodbyes. Ichigo was going to be transferred to a long term care facility. He had entered their life so quickly and now was about to leave it just as quickly. They entered standing around his bed trying not to cry.

"I can't thank you enough... you reckless bastard. You saved my sister..." Yang growled as she moved closer whispering in his ear.

"If you don't wake up soon, I'll never forgive you," Yang whispered before stepping back.

Blake was next placing the box of his personal effects in his hand opening it to place the ribbon she used to hide her cat ears. "I don't have to hide anymore because of you. You saved me from myself..." Blake said before leaning to place a short kiss on his forehead. "Please wake up soon," She backed away joining Yang and allowing the other girls to say their goodbyes.

"You saved my life. And you did it so easily despite being in a wheelchair... you barbarian. I worked so hard and you made it look like a waste. Didn't your parent's ever teach you to not embarrass a pretty girl?" Weiss snorted in mock disgust. "You are so uncivilized... when you wake up you better remember your manners and apologize for making me waste my time saying goodbye," Weiss demanded crossing her arms before stalking away.

"Ichigo... you're only laying here because of me and my team. I promise I'll get stronger... just wake up," Ruby cried suddenly grabbing the teen. "Just wake up. You made my sister smile for real again you big jerk. You can't do that and then just leave! Wake UP!" Ruby shouted as her teammates moved to pull her away.

-  
>Ichigo rose slowly from the crater his body made in the side of one of the skyscrapers. His body was covered in small scratches and bruises as he glared down at the other half of his zanpaktou, Zangetsu's white hollow mask stared blankly back at the young soul reaper.<p>

"So Partner...you see now that you have people to live for again..." the hollow voice of his zanpaktou spoke.

"I can't put them at risk. What if the Quincy are here as well? I don't even know where I can find you!" Ichigo argued as blood trickled into the water from his forehead.

"I can't believe you'd forget what that old shitty shopkeeper said. I can't believe you are my wielder sometimes. You are always so afraid! Afraid of gettin' hurt! Afraid of others gettin' hurt! Afraid of dyin'! Afraid of failin'! You are so full of fear it makes me sick! I'd rather kill you than be wielded by such a coward. If them Quincy bastards are real, then kill'em. Don't live in fear of 'em. If you want to protect your new friends then slaughter anything that threatens them! If ya're afraid of getting' hurt than don't get hit. If ya're afraid of dyin' then don't die. It's just that simple, partner. Me and the old man are too powerful to be held by someone with so much fear. So knowing where we are is kinda pointless right now. So what's it gonna be there partner?" the hollow Zangetsu finished waiting for his wielder's reply.

"God... to be scorned by you... I really must be stupid," Ichigo replied as his hollow zanpaktou spirit returned his sword to his back. In a blur he disappeared kicking Ichigo square in the face out of his inner world in a daze.

"Tch, what a pain... the idiot couldn't help but lose us? I should kill him for that... maybe later?" The hollow Zangetsu mused as his Quincy side landed next to him.

"He will suffer the consequences for dropping us later," he agreed with a smile as they both watch the sun come out high above the water and their heads.

Ichigo slowly started regaining consciousness to a pounding headache that nearly overwhelmed him. He could make out beeping equipment and a person gripping his arms tightly and crying. It was girl crying and she held on tight as others tried to pull her away. Ichigo cracked his eyes before shutting them quickly again, the bright light only worsening the headache. He was starting to make out the crying shouts.

"Wake up Ichigo! Please don't leave us!" he could hear from the girl and he acted before he thought. He pulled the girl in a hug and immediately rubbed her back. Even as he felt himself drifting back off into sleep this time instead of unconsciousness.

"I'm not going anywhere... I'm right here... Yuzu... your big brother is sorry for being such a big jerk..." Ichigo replied in a whisper just loud enough for Ruby to hear before falling back asleep still clutching Ruby tightly.

"Did that just happen?" Blake asked dumbfounded as Ruby tried to break free from the bone crushing hug Ichigo was giving her despite now being asleep.

"Can't... breathe..." Ruby gasped as Yang pried the young girl from Ichigo's grasp.

The four girls stared down at Ichigo as he now slept quietly. Equipment still screamed in alarm at the sensors that were knocked off by his movements and Ruby's grasping hands as she resisted being pulled away. Doctors and nurses rushed the room to find the four girls giggling as Ichigo snored loudly and a puddle of drool formed to the side of his open mouth. The nurses escorted the team out asking them to let Ichigo sleep and come back later. They happily agreed as they piled out the front door of the infirmary.

"I say it's time for a celebration!" Ruby shouted as the others joined in with raised fists except Weiss who had a fist on her hip.

"So now what? Cookies and Coffee?" she asked sarcastically.

"Of Course!" Ruby shouted with Blake and Yang joining in nodding.

"Sounds... perfect," Weiss replied with a smile joining her friends as they rushed to get on the next airship to Vale.

The four arrived at their favorite coffee shop with several bags of cookies in hand. Each munched happily on their own personal favorites. Ruby and her infamous chocolate chips, Yang and her lemon drops, Weiss and her frosted sugar cookies and finally Blake and her ginger snap cookies. The four sat at their usual table outside waiting for the waitress to take their order.

"These are soooo good," Ruby moaned as she swallowed another bite of a delicious cookie.

"I only have one left..." Weiss cried as she pulled out the last cookie. As she went to take a bite the cookie broke and only a crumb remained in her hand as the rest landed on the ground, now more of a pile of frosting and crumbs.

"And that's how the cookie crumbles!" Yang blurted out looking to her friends for a favorable response. "Eh! EH!" Groans from her teammates caused her to pout. Someone nearby joined in booing loudly as well.

"Yang... that was..." Blake started to say before Yang completed her sentence.

"Tasteless?" Yang said with a grin causing Ruby to snort before she covered her mouth. More boos came out of nowhere causing Yang to search for the culprit.

"Hey, who keeps doing that?" Yang raising her fists threateningly. Blake ignored her partner's antics as she continued speaking.

"You were waiting to use those weren't you?" Blake sighed.

"Oh come on! Those were great. Why can't you admit it?" Yang whined pathetically.

"Because none of your puns are great," Weiss mused in a monotone.

"Good Afternoon. You all seem to be in a good mood. Are things going better this week?" the waitress asked. She had black hair cut in a short bob with a large hair clip on the left side of face. She had brown eyes and was oriental in descent and shorter than any of the girls in RWBY standing at just under five foot tall. Her frame is skinny for someone around their age wearing. She is wearing a simple black knee length skirt with a button up white long sleeve shirt with a black tie. Knee high white socks and short black boot complete the outfit.

"Oh hey, Mo. We're doing great but it's only today that was great!" Ruby answered before biting down on another cookie.

"We're celebrating our friend waking up. He wasn't doing well and then he suddenly woke up," Yang replied.

"Oh what's his name?" she asked politely.

"Oh, Ichigo Kurosaki. He has the funniest shade of orange hair. We'll bring him by so you can meet him next time!" Ruby replied after swallowing the bit of cookie she had left. The girls sat quietly for a few seconds until Mo spoke again.

"Just the regular, right?" Mo asked sharply ignoring Ruby's offer as if she never heard it.

"Yeah... sure. Are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost," Blake inquired getting a quick nod from Mo.

"Yeah some guy who harassed me a few weeks ago just walked by... sorry," Mo shook her head before smiling. "I'll be right back with your drinks! Congrats!" she replied as she stepped back inside.

Instead of going to the counter to turn in their order she stepped in the back employee only section of the tiny shop. She pulled her scroll out quickly dialing a number. She waited patiently for the person she called to answer.

"I found him... Yes... Yes Vale... he is at Beacon, he was injured," Mo said softly into the scroll before looking around to make sure she was alone. "Do you want me to engage? Okay I can wait... How long until you get here? A few months? Why so long? His new friends want me to meet him... Okay I'll disappear. Are you bringing them with you? That stupid tradition again. You'd think people would get tired of it. Okay, I gotta go anyway," she hung up. Walking through the staff break room she grabs a katana with a light red handle from a locker before going out the back door. A smile crossing her face as she disappeared.


	7. Chapter 7: The Deathberry Awakens

I don't own Bleach or RWBY

I originally started working on this chapter as a part of a chapter but it quickly grew after revisions. I found in the end that it was around the same length as a normal chapter and felt I had a good stopping point where I did. I find that chapters much larger than this sometimes tend to be difficult to read all at once so I stopped. The conversation with Ruby was where I spent the most time editing. My initial writing had him talking a little more about Yuzu and Karin and slowly I cut it down because I don't see Ichigo being able to speak so freely yet about his dead sisters.

I know I left you hanging on the girl at the cafe. Team RWBY will mention her next chapter as they take Ichigo out for a day in Vale. They didn't just ignore her not returning with their orders. I will probably write a short flashback showing their reactions, if I don't get off the rail and suddenly notice my word count is over 4000 again.

Read and Review, please. If you have an problems PLEASE sign in to review or PM me. I really don't like flaming guest reviews... It seems cowardly to me. I am not one to retaliate because you didn't like something I did. If I can better understand people that are put off by my choices then maybe I can make the story more appealing for everyone.

Thanks

Special Thanks to fightingchampion and Fifth Horseman. A lot of P.M.s with them cleared up some details in my head and gave me new motivation in my writing.

Of course as will be the norm. Thank you Saddlebags for the beta. He makes my words coherent and my grammar better and reviews my chapters quick and efficiently.

Chapter 7: The Deathberry Awakens

Ichigo growing up had been trained by his father to sleep lightly and always rise early. Now that he was finally in a stable condition his body's subconscious training took over. It was five in the morning on Saturday when his eyes opened his hands already defensively positioned. He relaxed when no shout of his name or door crashing open came. The room was dark and the sun was still below the horizon as he looked out the window. He stared quietly for a minute at the green light atop the clock-tower that gave Beacon Academy its name. He turned on the light and surprisingly a knock came at his door a few seconds later.

"Enter!" Ichigo shouted gruffly as his throat seemed to crack from disuse. He expected a nurse to enter but was a little surprised to see a man with gray hair and brown eyes behind a pair of small glasses, with zig-zagging shape on either side of the lenses. He is wearing a green and black suit with a green scarf, a purple cross is pinned through the center of the scarf. The man definitely didn't look like any kind of hospital staff member he could think about. Before he spoke he offered a glass of water to Ichigo, which he gladly accepted.

"Good morning. I am Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon Academy," Ozpin offered with a smile that caused a small shiver down Ichigo's spine. It nearly caused him to choke on the water he was sipping. It was a devious smile that was quite similar to one used by a very intelligent and manipulative shopkeeper. That shopkeeper's name was Kisuke Urahara, former Soul Reaper Captain of the Twelfth Division. That smile meant two things to Ichigo, things were about to go from bad to worse and that there was no stopping the wheels already in motion. At that point your only option was to dive in head first and hope for the best.

"It was... What can I do for you?" Ichigo asked offhandedly. His comment drew a raised eyebrow from Ozpin. He wasn't expecting such a response from a boy he was meeting only for the first time.

"Right, well I was in the area and thought I would check up on you," Ozpin said drawing a skeptical look from Ichigo as he set the now empty drinking glass down on the side table, next to box that contained his personal affects.

"Don't lie to me. You aren't quite as skilled as you may think," Ichigo replied. This reaction from the teen was surprising to Ozpin. He hadn't expected him to be so intuitive, or blunt.

"HA, I like you. I think you will do quite well here at Beacon. I figured you as an early riser and was waiting for you to wake up. I wanted to officially offer you the chance to become a student at this prestigious Academy," Ozpin admitted getting a nod of belief from Ichigo.

"I heard from Weiss you were considering it. Why you would make sure that Ruby, Yang, Blake and Weiss approved of me is still not clear to me, though. That aside I would like to accept your offer. I still have much to learn about the world at my age," Ichigo said. His quick answer was a surprise after his intuitive display previously.

"Diving right in without any questions about the school or even true deliberation? I won't lie to myself and believe your decision has anything to do with the name of my school. Actually going on what I know about you so far, I'd say you had never even heard the name, Beacon Academy, before your arrival to this campus," Ozpin mused getting a grimace from Ichigo. He had time to consider the idea while Zangetsu kicked his ass for ten days. This made it completely logical the man would question his speedy decision.

"I trust the girl's decision. If they think this the place for me then so be it," Ichigo replied hoping that made his choice more believable. Ozpin seemed to think so as he nodded.

"They are a pretty special set of girls. The school, as you may have figured out, is for training future hunters of Grimm. The school operates on the premise of training teams of hunters and huntresses. Those four are one of our newest teams, Team RWBY with a W," Ozpin said.

"So why did you need their approval? Aren't you the headmaster?" Ichigo asked drawing a mirthful laugh from the older man.

"Indeed I am, but you see there are certain protocols the school operates under. One is a team is composed of four members, or two pairs of partners. The partners are selected differently every year but they are expected to work together for four years. Since you are being accepted to the school after the semester has already begun we must add you to an already formed team," Ozpin explained getting an understanding look from Ichigo. Throwing a person into a team, even if it was newly formed, was a dangerous proposition if all members don't agree.

"Thanks for the offer and explanation. I was wondering if there was a way to let Team RWBY know I was awake. I really want to see them as soon as possible and don't want to wait until after their classes to see them today," Ichigo asked drawing a smile from the older man.

"I will let them know to visit first thing this morning. Please don't fret about disrupting their classes, it's Saturday," Ozpin said before a buzzing sound interrupted. He reached into his pocket pulling out a small cellphone shaped object. A quick glance at the device and he bowed his head slightly.

"I must take this, thank you for your time Ichigo." Ozpin said not waiting for Ichigo replied before heading to the door.

"Sure," Ichigo replied just before Ozpin closed the door behind him.

Ichigo sat in relative silence, the beeping of a heart monitor was the only sound, as he thought about what the future would hold for him here. The Quincy were a threat that could not be allowed to go unchecked. He had to know if they were part of the Wandenreich or if they were from this world and the name was just a coincidence. If there is one thing Ichigo learned, with regard to the spiritual world, it would be that coincidences like this just don't happen. This White Fang group seemed just as dangerous as well. A group capable of standing up to the Quincy had to be just as capable.

Ichigo sighed as he closed his eyes and raised his hands to rub gently on both temples. It seemed a headache was already on the way with the stress that came from knowing war. He could see the signs and knew if something wasn't done these two organizations could do something that started a war. It seemed even more likely with the obvious tension between Faunus and Humans, if Blake hiding her Faunus heritage was any sign of said tension.

"Damn... I had hoped that after the last war it would be quite a while before I had to worry about another," Ichigo muttered as he reopened his eyes. His eyes moved to his box to see something dark was just barely sticking out between the lid and the bottom. He opened the box and revealed a long piece of wide black ribbon. Ichigo pulled it out and immediately recognized it, the bow Blake had used to cover her cat ears.

"So she isn't covering them up anymore. That's good," Ichigo mused before a rather large smile came to his lips. The ears were cute, even he was forced to admit and he wondered what it must be like to have two sets of ears. Ichigo raised his hands to the top of his head and tried to imagine what it must be like to have a set there. It would definitely make brushing her hair a bit more difficult but would give her much sharper hearing. It was while he was pretending to have a second set of ears that his door flew up and a blur of black and red entered. A cloud of red rose petals falling behind the blur reminding Ichigo eerily of a Soul Reaper Captain and his 'flowery' zanpaktou. Ichigo doubted he would have ever found a reason to be bothered by flower petals until he witnessed that zanpaktou. His guest panted softly trying to recover her guest as Ichigo turned her way, his hands still awkwardly positioned on his head.

"Good Morning... umm what are you doing?" Ruby Rose greeted before giving Ichigo an appraising look.

"I was... I was..." Ichigo stalled as he lowered his hands to his lap. His vision suddenly filled with the bright silver irises of Ruby's eyes. She stared searching him for any clues and his embarrassed blush caused Ruby to leap to only one logical conclusion in her head.

"You were wondering what it would be like to have an extra set of ears, weren't you?" Ruby asked nailing his intentions immediately.

"... How did..." Ichigo started getting interrupted by Ruby quickly.

"I wondered the same thing when I found out Blake was a Faunus," Ruby explained getting an awkward chuckle from Ichigo.

"So where are the others?" Ichigo asked looking to the door expecting to see Yang, Blake, or even Weiss to enter at any second.

"Others? What... OOOO," Ruby's eyes widened at the realization of missing a very important fact. She had left in such a hurry, with the aid of her semblance, that she had left the others still asleep in their beds.

"heh heh heh... I many have forgotten to tell them you wanted to see us. After Ozpin's call ended I changed and raced here without even waking them," Ruby explained scratching the back of her head nervously. Yang was gonna be angry... and Blake... and Weiss, she really didn't want to think about Weiss.

Ichigo couldn't resist laughing at Ruby's expense. She pouted in response to his laughs. "I don't think it's that funny," Ruby insisted adding puppy dog eyes to her already potent pout. The look stopped Ichigo's laughter when he felt guiltier than he probably should. The look reminded him of his younger sister, Yuzu, making even a smile impossible for him at the moment.

"Since the others aren't here... I wanted to ask you something," Ruby said.

This pulled Ichigo from his sad train of thoughts, but that would not be for long. Fate had a way of making sure things awkwardly worked that way.

"Sure, by why would the others being here matter?" Ichigo asked. Ruby gave him a very anxious look before she spoke again.

"Because my question is really p-personal..." Ruby said getting a curious eyebrow raise from Ichigo. He pondered the situation carefully... nervous hand motions, check... red tint on cheeks, check... nervous stuttering at the mention of personal, check... He wasn't prepared for this at all.

"OOOO, Ruby I'm sorry but I don't know you well enough," Ichigo assumed. He initially received a confused expression before she realized what he had implied. Ruby shook her head in denial as her pale face reddened in a furious blush.

"OH NONONONONO! I'm not confessing my feelings to you! Not that you aren't worth confessing to... Not that I have those kinds of feelings... but not because you aren't like totally cool and hot and... I'm going to shut up now," Ruby sputtered out drawing a blush from Ichigo at the awkwardness and the compliments she gave.

"Sorry... I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. So what did you want to ask me?" Ichigo asked rapidly changing the subject to try to relieve some tension. Ruby shook her head trying to clear her thoughts before focusing her bright silver eyes on Ichigo's own brown ones.

"Who... who is Yuzu? Is she your sister?" Ruby asked immediately regretting the decision as Ichigo's face took on an experience of being punched in the gut. He quickly recovered and his eyes narrowed slightly giving him a new level of intimidation that frightened the young huntress-to-be.

"How do you know that name?" He asked.

"Y-you c-c-called me Yuzu yesterday when you woke up b-briefly. Said you were sorry her b-brother was being a big jerk. Actually, I might have c-called you that as well," Ruby stuttered as Ichigo maintained his weighty glare on her. As soon as she finished explaining her relaxed and closed his eyes. Tears threatened to fall and the tiny shimmer of liquid on the edge of his eyes was immediately noticed by Ruby.

"Oh... Ichigo, you don't have to say anything. I'm sorry I shouldn't have pried," Ruby exclaimed trying to stop the older teen from crying. It was too little too late as the tears fell and he opened his eyes to reveal the tortured look that Yang had seen nearly two weeks before. The look was nearly enough to knock Ruby to her knees as she plopped down on the edge of the bed close to Ichigo.

"Yuzu... she was one of my sisters. And because of me she died," Ichigo said causing Ruby to gasp. Ruby almost immediately went to respond but then she stopped herself. She considered the man in front of her. She didn't know him all too well but she did know some key points. He had saved her despite not knowing anything about her or the other students. Considering the scars his body bore he likely had little reason to trust anyone. In addition, he had been in terrible shape and was truly in no position to lend his aid. Later he had saved Weiss and even healed her despite her usual bad attitude. This all added up to one scenario, he wasn't in any position to truly act to save his sisters. He wasn't one to leave strangers to die. That made it even further unlikely that he would leave his own family to die by his own inaction.

"Obviously that isn't the entire story. Something happened and I can't find a way to ask without causing you more pain. I will tell you what I do know instead. There is no way that you would have not acted to save your sister if you truly had a choice. You blame yourself for her death but I doubt you actually struck her down," Ruby reasoned causing Ichigo to look back to the younger girl, a little surprised at her quick deductions.

"I might as well have killed her. She was executed because I refused... him. In the end if I had just done what I was told in the beginning a lot of people would still be alive," Ichigo replied causing Ruby to suddenly pull him into a hug.

"It's not your fault. I think that if you chose to let her die so easily then there wasn't really a choice, was there? Maybe she would have died either way? Or you had to sacrifice your sister's to protect the greater good? Either is something I hope you never have to face again," Ruby whispered holding him tightly as Ichigo returned the hug and tears began to fall harder. Ruby was kind of glad to be wearing her cloak at this point because his tears would have likely soaked through her dress.

After a few minutes the two pulled apart and Ichigo finally relaxed as the tension from their discussion had melted away with his tears. Ruby smiled at Ichigo before a grumble from her stomach broke the moment.

"Shut up, you!" Ruby admonished her stomach lightly punching the offending area before looking back to a chuckling Ichigo. She couldn't resist the small blush that came to her cheeks.

"You haven't eaten breakfast yet?" Ichigo questioned.

"I came straight here... I was too excited," Ruby said before pausing briefly in thought, "What about you? I got here around five thirty and I doubt you've been up that much longer,"

"I'm not really-" Ichigo started to say before his own stomach rebelled at the thought grumbling loudly. Ruby giggled at the sound as Ichigo scowled offering a glare to the disobedient organ.

"I'll get us some breakfast really quick. I'll also give the others a call. Be right back," Ruby said disappearing in another cloud of rose petals. Ichigo watched as they fell to the ground and he stared curiously as they slowly disappeared into sparkling blue spirit energy with which he was familiar.

He sat silently in his room. His mind ran through everything that had happened to him since he woke up in that strange ruin. He hoped that things would start to make a lot more sense soon because right now everything just seemed so different, yet the same, as the world he once knew. His hands subconsciously returned to the black ribbon that once belonged to Blake and he nervously played with it. The smooth silk felt good in his hand and relaxed his mind as he considered one thought that weighed the heaviest on his mind. Where could his Zangetsu's be hidden? Considering the amount of spiritual energy those two blades contained, it was dangerous for anyone to just randomly handle them.

His thoughts on such a place someone would put a dangerous pair of swords were halted when a knock on the door frame echoed through his room. He looked to the door to find a trio of familiar faces that instantly brought a smile to his face. Yang, Weiss, and Blake entered moving about his room and getting comfortable as much as he would expect the three to do, based on their personalities. Yang sat comfortably on the end of his bed, uncaring if she was invited or even bothering Ichigo with her presence in his personal space. Weiss sat straight-backed in the wooden chair by the side of his bed, while Blake curled up in the recliner in the corner. Blake's cat ears twitched when she caught Ichigo staring at them which caused Ichigo to look away and Blake to blush.

"So, Ichigo... you gave us quite the scare. We were all very worried," Yang said leaning back on her elbows peering at the orange haired boy as he blushed slightly at the provocative way the pose pushed out her already sizable assets.

"I d-don't really remember what happened," Ichigo replied as he turned his attention to Weiss in hopes she could fill in the blanks as well as keep his focus off of the perverted thoughts he got when he looked Yang's way.

"You somehow created an orange barrier that destroyed the Beowolf and then created another that healed me. It appears they were somehow tied to those flower hair clips you carry with you," Weiss explained. Ichigo sat the ribbon that he still held to the side and picked the two clips out of the box.

Blake smiled a red tint dusting her cheeks when she saw him set the ribbon aside so carefully. He actually found it to be important enough to require care which made her heart beat elevate in excitement. She was glad to be sitting across the room and away from the eyes of her teammates and Ichigo.

Ichigo stared longingly at the clips. It was obvious they had belonged to a girl and the look on his face caused the hearts of the girls in the room to sink. He had loved her, it was plain to see by the look on his face now. The boy had desperately loved this girl and she had been taken away from him. It made the three consider what kind of hope they could have at reaching him on a more personal level. For now they would wait until he was ready to talk about her.

"Orihime always hated to see people get hurt. A piece of her must have answered my desire for a miracle," Ichigo said looking up towards Weiss. "She was the one to save you, not me."

"That may be true but your desire to save her was enough to give her power to act," Blake pointed out getting nods from the other girls.

"You really have to stop putting yourself in the hospital for us," Yang teased drawing a sigh from Ichigo.

"Then you need to stay out of trouble," Ichigo grumbled inaudibly. Three heavy auras suddenly surrounded him threatening pain if he wasn't careful with his next choice of words.

"What did you just say?" The three girls said simultaneously.

"Nothing, nothing at all," Ichigo chuckled nervously as the weight disappeared each girl giving him their own smiles.

A blur of rose petals alerted the group to the arrival of the youngest team member. Ruby appeared gasping slightly as she held a plate with some toast out towards Ichigo. It was what was in her other hand that gained Ichigo's attention. A bowl filled with the small, bright red fruit caused Ichigo's face to pale and a scowl to form.

"Who told you that lie? My name has nothing to do with those things!" Ichigo shouted suddenly his eyes still affixed to the offensive fruit. His shout startled the girls and caused Ruby to drop the plate of toast, shattering on the ground.

"Ummm, what about your name?" Yang asked trying to make some sense of his random shout.

"My name means number one protector. I don't know who told you that my name means anything else. I can assure you it doesn't stand for strawberry," Ichigo growled his eyes trying to make the small fruits exploded.

"Wait, one meaning of your name is strawberry?" Weiss asked unsure of his comment.

"I am not a girl. Who in their right mind would give their son the name Strawberry?" Ichigo corrected again causing all the girls to suddenly burst into laughter. They were quite certain he was not a girl and the idea of naming a boy, especially one such as the one before them, a girlie name like that was positively laughable. The fact that he got so upset at just the sight of the fruit made it impossible for them not to laugh.

"It's really not that funny." Ichigo growled which only caused the girls to laugh harder. Ichigo waited impatiently for them to stop their laughs at his expense.

"It is funny because we had no idea." Blake replied when she recovered first.

"Then why does Ruby have those damned things?" Ichigo demanded causing Ruby to chuckle a little.

"They are my favorite food. They are so sweet and I love sweets, plus they're red and I love the color red." Ruby explained her reasoning a little childish but definitely fitting. Ichigo covered his face in embarrassment causing giggles to rise again in the girls.

"Now you really do look like a giant strawberry!" Ruby observed. This caused Team RWBY to clutch their sides as the laughed to the point it hurt.

"I do not!" Ichigo argued childishly. He crossed his arms in irritation and with an audible sigh promptly looked out the window and ignored the four girls. Ichigo continued to give them the cold shoulder even after they calmed down causing Weiss to smack him in the back of the head. Ichigo spun to face her and glared menacingly.

"No sulking, accept your misfortune at being named after a fruit and behave like a man," Weiss ordered while Ichigo continued to glare at the white haired girl. She seemed unfazed by his look which only annoyed him more.

"Awww, I think we made Ichigo... berry angry!" Yang said which caused every giggle to stop and the room to fall deadly silent. Ichigo could feel a drop of sweat form on his brow as he stared at the blond on the foot of his bed. Ichigo put a finger in his ear and rub when he swore he heard someone boo in the distance.

"Oh seriously! That was awesome, especially the timing!" Yang shouted loudly. In the distance another boo echoed through the infirmary hallways. "You can shut up! Nobody asked you!"

"Wow... does she do this often?" Ichigo asked aloud.

"All the time..." Weiss answered before sighing. The drop grew bigger on his brow and he feared to ask his final question.

"Is it always this bad?" Ichigo questioned getting sad nods from Weiss and Ruby. A sudden grin on Blake's face made Ichigo shudder slightly as if his body was trying to warn him to cover his ears.

"Her jokes, I dare say can be... indigestible..." Blake explained. Yang cheered while the other two hissed at the partners.

The drop now fell unceremoniously from his brow.


End file.
